#sorrows of werlyt spoilers

[pr1ncesspopstar]

Landslide - FFXIV Write 2024 - Day 11: Surrogate

!Spoilers for the Sorrows of Werlyt Questline!

!TW: Implied/Referenced Child Abuse!

Ao3

-

“What are you doing making all this racket at such an ungodly hour, sweet girl?”

Allie jumped from where she stood, nearly burping her head on the open cabinet door above her head. She stood to attention, straight and narrow. An utter contrast to Halditar, tying the knot of a robe she clearly just threw on to come investigate. Red hair tousled a frizzy, lopsided mess, she may have looked humorous if her glasses-less squinting didn’t come across as scowling to the young au’ra.

“I’m so sorry, I’ll try to be more quiet in the future…” she genuinely apologized. She nursed her hand closer to her body, unintentionally hiding it from the healer. Said healer just shook her head.

“None of that now. You’re not in any trouble. I was already flitting about with insomnia and your dad’s barely stirred. I just figured it best to investigate, is all.” She reassured the young girl. And that eased the worry off of Allie’s shoulders. She tried not to let it eat at her, how hard it was not to expect… the worst, out of an interaction still.

“So, what is it you’re doing?” The roe asked once more. Allie held out her hand, showing the long crimson gash split just off center down the length of her thumb. It stung still, weeping both blood that puddled lightly down her palm and drainage trying its best to clot the flow.

“I cut myself while changing the nib on my fountain pen, and was looking for disinfectant, is all. I thought it was in the cabinet beneath the sink, but I couldn’t find any, so I was searching the linens and other cabinets too...”

“Damn, you really did a number on yourself.” Halditar said once she leaned in to where she could clearly see. “But as you’ve already figured, nothing a little bandage and medicine can’t fix. I’ll help. Keep looking here and I’ll go make sure we didn’t leave it in the kitchen or somewhere.”

Before Allie could insist she was alright to do this on her own and bid Halditar to return to sleep, she was down the hall, descending the stairs to their kitchen. A worm of guilt ate into Allie’s stomach for troubling her. But with how her thumb was burning with pain, the more she dug through boxes and opened drawers, having someone else to cover where she was going to search next. Especially as the search continued with nary hide or hair of the healing balm. Maybe Halditar fared luckier.

She stroked the skin, doing anything she could to stop the pain and bleeding. Each step down the stairs was light and quick, a scurry more than a walk, following the single golden light at the bottom. Long shadows danced along the floor from the chairs of the dining room table, flickering from the faintest light the lamp on the table could make.

“Any luck on your end?” Allie asked as she rounded the corner. Halditar shook her, filling a glass with water in a quiet flow.

“No, but I have the next best thing if you can give me a moment. Take a seat.”

Allie did as asked, curiosity overtaking any frustration as she watched whatever it was Halditar was doing. Steam climbed the walls of glass as she poured in a slow, certain crawl, confirming it was warm at least. From the shelf above the stove, she grabbed one of many glass bottles and poured in an equal amount to the water, the clear liquids merging flawlessly. With a swiped dish towel in hand, she sat across from the younger girl, holding out her hand.

Allie’s injured hand was much smaller and softer than Halditar’s as she placed it on her palm. Calluses and scars were abundant where she only had nicks. Allie's nails were long and pointed, claws really. Halditar’s were short and square. And warm, Halditar’s hand was very warm.

“This might sting a bit more than normal disinfectant and stink like no other, but in a pinch vinegar is as good a cut cleaner as any,” she said. It was hard to believe a dash of vinegar in water could be an effective substitute for medicine, so carefully made and mixed to do the same. But she couldn’t complain. One of them was a sage, and the other was not, after all.

At the very least, it felt like a disinfectant. Allie’s breath hissed in through her teeth at how sharply the dampened dishcloth felt dabbed onto her injury. A sharp stab that felt like it could blossom into fire at any moment. She apologized for her nails digging into Halditar’s skin, but she shushed her and assured her it was fine. After cleaning the wound and wiping the blood away from her palm, they only needed to wrap the cut in gauze. Something they had plenty of lying around, from how often the trio dealt with injuries from Gaius and Halditar’s sparring, and Allie looking after the children of Werlyt and how clumsy they could be.

“There we go. I’m sure you won’t, but try not to move it too much. You know how to change the dressing with one hand?”

“Yes. Thank you, Haldi,” Allie said, smiling and examining the flawless wrapping she had received. The healer nodded, rising from her seat and ruffling her hair. That large, warm palm was a comforting pressure as it brushed her scales and horns.

“Now let’s both try to get some sleep, yeah? Not only does it do the body good, but it keeps Gaius from scolding us for sleeping in.” Allie giggled, wanting to argue, but she knew she had some immunities as his daughter and that the sage would have defended her right to sleep in even if it didn’t. She followed the older woman back upstairs, thumb still aching slightly, but mind was free of worries.

-

Allie couldn’t help herself but to scream in delight. The racing wind drowned out her voice as the seagulls above screeched. She was certain her white hair was a mess, fizzy from catching flecks of water and salt the waves tossed in the air for her tousled bangs to catch. But it was so hard to care when in the palm of her hands the rough-hewn rope gave her complete control of their speed. Their small boat cut across the bright blue ocean that Werlyt hung above with ease, only feeling the smallest kick beneath the wooden bottom from each passing was.

“Good on ya, catching the breeze like that! You’re a natural, Allie! As good as any Limsan sailor worth their salt!” Halditar laughed from behind her.

“Thank you, Captain!”

“Oh, ‘Captain’ now, am I?” The responding laugh was low and warm, just like the late summer sun on her skin and scales. However, down in the gulf it was cool, no more hot than a spring day compared to the sweat-drenching heat usually felt when playing in she played in the streets with the children or did her chores. It was a wonder what a minor change in scenery did to make the heat just melt away.

“Guess that makes you my ‘First Mate!’ So where shall I plot our course, First Mate Allie?” Halditar asked. Allie instantly knew, turning her gaze out further on the horizon.

“Let’s figure-8 the island’s once, and then return to the docks!”

“Aye aye!” With that, the boat turned. Allie mixed the sail to catch the wind as they went. Before long they’d skim by the surrounding islands, she’d long wondered what lay on, able to glance at how untouched they were before going back to home.

How this little adventure came to be was almost just as surprising as her sprouting joy for the sea and the boat. It had just been an off-hand comment she made while walking alongside the Warrior of Light as they carried home groceries. Expressing an enjoyment and admiration for the colorful sails of the boats that took to Werlyt’s waters during the day, especially in the warm months when those that sailed purely for the joy of it, untied their vanity boats from their posts and took off. When asked if she’d like to try sailing, she had just given a simple ‘sure.’ In her mind, it would have only happened if someone ever offered it to her. It wouldn’t have been something she went out of her way to do, much less soon.

Yet as soon as the groceries were safely across the threshold of the house, not even put away, Halditar had taken Allie by the hand and led her to the docks and convinced a fishing pal to lend them their boat for a quick spin. It had all been so sudden; she had barely any time to object. And now that they were out on the open water, she was so happy she didn’t. The raen couldn’t remember the last time she felt such a thrill, enough to curl her toes and flick her tail.

Instructions from behind interrupted those thought, “Start lowering the sail. We’ll be sailing into the wind for a moment and don’t want to have our momentum stalled. I’ll tell you as soon as we can put ‘em up again.”

With an ‘aye!’ Allie set to work.

Before they had set off, Halditar had given her a crash course in how to manage the mast and all that came with it. At first it had been overwhelming, so many ropes and places to knot and how, the words just spun in her head like the sail the first few minutes she tried working with it.

Before long, though, the intuitiveness of the design came through. She understood now even with all the ease air and warships provided, there was a reason traditional means of navigating the ocean was still as strong as ever.

And if there was ever a moment when the sea threatened the nip back, a gust too big for her small body to fight against, or a knot too complicated Halditar was quick to lock the rudder and rush to help her, her own weight more than enough to command the sail with ease, and showing Allie ways to tie knots she didn’t even know were possible, quickly too.

It was so different from how she had learned before, doing things on the fly, having to read the feeling on her skin and horns and environment all the round rather than having instructions to follow to a T. And though it may have not been right to compare the two, she knew she was enjoying herself far more now than she ever had following instructions.

“It seems like we caught some attention! Up on the cliff side!” Halditar’s call guided her to the railing by the cliff. Several tiny figures jumped and waved their direction. She couldn’t hold back a laugh, and then a shout that echoed far across the waves as she freed one hand to wave. She wasn’t sure if they could really hear or see her, but her heart filled with warmth.

Their small trip around the islands was complete. They set back toward the docks. Allie found her steps wobbly afterward, having gotten a little too used to her sea legs on their little stint. Something Halditar promised happened to so many, holding the girl’s shoulder to help her walk as they returned home.

-

The next time Allie saw Halditar, it was walking through the front door with a massive bag upon her back. Perhaps not an unusual sight if the Warrior of Light had not been away on a long trip. Allie jumped from her spot on the couch, smiling as she rushed to the roegadyn. Before she could greet her, the warrior scooped the teen up in a great big hug, shocking her with a gasp.

“There’s one of my favorite girls! How have you been, Allie? I hope you haven’t been worrying too much about old Gaius.” Allie giggled, nodding her head as she collected her bearing from the sudden affection.

“I’m happy to see you again, Halditar. Father will be, too… How was the Azim Steppe? Did you have any trouble with your business there?” Allie asked, following behind the tall woman as she walked in, removing both her boots and her bag from her back, setting it upon the kitchen table. It sounded heavy, far more than what she Halditar usually traveled with, that much Allie was familiar with. The Warrior of Light traveled, well, light, as far as the young girl had known.

“Well, Sadu nearly reduced me to a bloody smear on the grass, but she does that every time I swing by,” she waved it off as if the mention of her near death meant nothing. And perhaps with the amount of times it nearly happened, she had a right to be so lax over it. Though as Allie was about to voice concern, she opened her bag and smiled down at the young au’ra. “But I can speak of all that later! First, I’ve brought you some things I think you’ll really enjoy.”

Allie tried to get a word in, to insist the gift could wait, and that maybe Halditar could rest first. She eased Allie to sit in one of the dining room chairs, disregarding any “no”, while Halditar sat across from her. Allie sighed, but smiled kindly, patiently. However, she couldn’t deny that she was a little excited about the gifts, and her tail swayed through the back of the chair as she unpacked the massive bag.

The gifts for Allie were underneath the ones for her father. They composed mostly of a heavy woven blanket to match the new leather chair in their living he had quickly grown fond of, and a collection of small knick-knacks Halditar had gotten because they reminded her of him, mostly things with some leader symbolism, and a few things to tease such as charms that would invite luck and ‘forethought’ into someone’s life. Seeing such, Allie expected her gifts to be much the same.

It was a shock then, when the first thing Halditar pulled from her bag was a hairbrush. A lovely hairbrush with a small, round handle. But the hairs on the brush were unlike anything Allie had seen before, having a curl and softness to them that reminded her of a sheep��s wool.

“I got a lot of advice on what I should get from my friends Cirina and Cocota. I’m really hoping you’ll get good use out of these,” Halditar said as she handed off the brush to its new owner. Allie looked at it in her palm. It was quite small, and would take minutes to brush her hair with… Perhaps noticing her brow furrowed in confusion. The redhead chuckled and offered an explanation. “It’s a scale brush. Made of wooly boar hair so it’s softer than a normal brush, good for stimulating blood flow on your horns, getting dust and dirt out from in between the scales, and loosening the peeling come shedding season.”

Allie blinked in surprise. She did not know they even made brushes just for au’ra. Curiously, she lifted it to one of her horns and rubbed it in gentle circles around the base. A rustling sound rang hollowly in her head, as she felt the many curls easily slip into spaces she had resisted picking at when they felt oily and gross. She couldn’t help but shiver in delight. What a wonderful feeling…

“There’s also this, for your claws. It’s a quartz file, not a glass one! It’s harder than your claws so it can stand up to them, even make them sharper. No more fighting with that nasty nail trimmer to keep your fingers orderly.” The next gift Allie found hard to believe.

Even as a child, cutting her nails had been an ordeal, needing clippers strong enough to cut through metal. Often ending with her sobbing, and Alfonse having to take over to snip them down to an ‘acceptable’ size by Garlean military standard without making her scream or bleed. Nearly an adult, she now recognized the practice for what it was. Cruelty, seeing how au’ra had a nerve running through in their nails. But they couldn’t just grow out forever, so she trimmed as carefully as she could.

So with a grain of salt she took the file from Halditar. It made a soft, almost magic sound as she ran the tip of her thumb claw against the hard surface. It was like a little crystal bell. Beautiful, but not worth much…

Until she saw dust on her finger and ran the shaved tip against her finger. The dulled tip showed the file had shaved it down. Allie was wide eyed now. This miraculous little thing existed?! And it was all hers now?!

“Oh, and can’t forget these,” As if it was the Starlight’s Feast, her nameday, and Little Ladies’ Day all at once, Halditar produced more gifts yet. This time as little ceramic pots that when Allie opened the top off of, she found various liquids of different colors, consistencies, and smells. Each color coded and decorated with an unrecognized symbol, ones the gift-giver was more than eager to explain.

“The green pot is a special soap for when you go into shedding or a little dry. It softens what’s dead to get it to peel away quicker and hardens up the new scales so they aren’t so tender the first few days. The red pot is an oil for everyday use, to make your scales and claws shinier and healthier. And the purple one is a wax for winter, to prevent your scales from drying out. I was told it’s also good for the lips in winter, too.”

“Is all of this really necessary, just for my scales and such?” She couldn’t help but ask, feeling overwhelmed and a bit conflicted, she had to admit.

The gifts were lovely, truly. But she had gone on so long without these things in her life, she saw little reason to introduce them into her life now, useful as a few certainly would be. As if expecting such a question, Halditar’s response was swift and certain.

“Of course it is, sweet girl,” the words came with such kindness and assurance, and a gentle pat on the top of her head. “Your claws, scales, horns, and tail… It’s all a part of you. I know how hard you work to keep yourself clean and presentable. You want to be proud of it. It’s like the skin on your face, or…”

She moved her hand to twirl one of the short red locks that framed her face. Full of curl and bounce, those flaming locks always made Allie think of the saying ‘a girl’s hair is her crown.’ No one wore that statement more true than Halditar. “The hair on my head! It deserves and needs as much love and care as the rest of you. To be something you’re proud to wear and love. And while they may come from a place far off, these kinds of tools are important to your kind. They are something to be cherished.”

Allie was silent for a moment. Halditar’s voice lacked the usual excitement and mirth she associated with her tone. At this moment, her voice was gentle. A tone only ever afforded to her by her siblings or her father. It let her not only soak in the warm, soft contralto of the hero’s voice, smooth and light, but her words.

Halditar spoke from experience. One could see the kindness and hurt in her eyes. A type of hurt left in the past, but well remembered. Her father wore it often, a look that said ‘I will do all I can to make sure no one will endure what I have.’ That someone as proud as Halditar had known neglect in some shape or another, cruel or otherwise, self-inflicted or not… It made Allie’s chest ache, both in sympathy and relief. She wasn’t alone in this long bottled feeling she couldn’t share.

“It’s like my crown…” she couldn’t help but blurt out. Thankfully, the older woman understood. The redhead nodded and made those pretty locks of her glint like rubies in the sunlight.

“Aye, your horns are your crown. And your scales, claws, and tail jewelry. Which fits nicely into my last gift for ya…” Halditar’s eyes glinted with joy again, the most Allie had seen yet. If Halditar saved it for last, this must have been a showstopper. Its presentation certainly was nothing to sneeze at, a black lacquered box with an oriental flower design on the lid. Beautiful, Allie would have complimented if the contents of the box hadn’t stolen her breath away.

It brimmed with jewelry, packed nearly to the top with pieces of gold and silver and all other precious metals set with designs and cut stones that gleamed and dangled and would dance in the light. But it was more than that. While there were traditional pieces that she would love, rings, necklaces, hair decorations, and the like. There were pieces she could recognize or tell where they were supposed to go. Until she recalled the rest of her gifts.

Sure enough, these unknown pieces would decorate her tail or horns beautifully. They were pieces only she, as an au’ra could wear. Caps with dangling gems and rings for her horns, bracers for her tail. Some were simple and elegant, some she could only imagine wearing at a ball. And all of it for her. Allie looked up at Halditar with a slack jaw. Thinking at any moment she might wake up from a dream.

Instead, she just asked with a grin, “So, I cleaned up this treasure hunting haul pretty nice, eh?”

There was no stopping what followed. A small sniffle became waterworks of tears she tried to wipe away with her palms and sleeve. She tried to say she was okay, apologizing for crying, and that she was so happy, but it just came out as incoherent babble. Though, Halditar didn’t seem to mind or worry. Crossing from her chair to the other side of the table to kneel before the girl and pull her into a tight, loving hug. Allie burying her face into the offered shoulder until the sobs passed. Halditar gently shushed and reassured her, not moving from her spot until Allie was finally done and pulled away from her.

“Better now, sweet girl?” Halditar asked.

Allie nodded, swallowing down hiccups and giving a smile, knowing how weak it probably looked with tear-stained eyes and wet cheeks. “I-I am… I don’t know what came over me. I was just so surprised and happy I couldn’t let it out in any other way! Really, I can’t thank you enough for all these wonderful things, Haldi!”

“Your joy and enjoyment of all this is thank enough, dear girl. It’s my job to spoil ya, after all!” the Warrior of Light teased with a grin and a light boop to Allie’s nose. The white-haired girl laughed, unable to resist tossing her arms around the one she came to love as a second parent. Halditar gave a hug that Allie would always remember, one that was warm, and large, and soft.

When Gaius returned home for dinner that evening, Allie jingled with every step she took with rings on her tail on jewels hanging on her horns. He hid a smile behind his book, finding the sound beautiful, and the sight of his daughter all but shining in delight even more so.

[aethris-art]

Children yelling: MCDONALDS MCDONALDS MCDONALDS

[ihaveatypeanditstrickstergods]

When you think about it, Praetorium and Porta Decumana are really just the world's most awkward barbecue hosted by two sad dads. Lahabrea brought his ex and didn't tell anyone, there was drama, everything kinda blew up, and now everything is burnt and Gaius is just spouting his political opinions everywhere.

[heirbane]

FIMBULVETR: TERNCLIFF'S TERMINUS.

aka: give us a wrap up for werlyt, squex.

Terncliff had been on the cusp of desperation several times before Endwalker. First, when they believed Gaius van Baelsar came to colonize and eradicate the culture and heritage that the cliffside port had cultivated; second, when his towering form disappeared from the area all together, leaving tints of Garlean occupation without the promise of industry and technology. The magitek units had come, providing the men and women with goods and services beyond any they would have been able to harness on their remote stretch of Ilsabard, and then simply disappeared, leaving infrastructure half-built and their people without the skills to finish it on their own.

When Valens van Varro began to encroach upon Werlytan territory, they had well and truly believed it to be the final chapter for their people. Valens pushed forth magitek reapers, shattering windows and crumbling brickwork with ease. He had been the Imperial officer they truly had expected when Gaius came to their shores over a dozen summers prior.

Valens was the shadow they had feared, and the depths of his depravity saw no end, as violent and unpredictable as the waves against its jagged, rocky cliff side. He had come simply to beckon the wolf out of hiding, the greying hound's children puppeteered by their loyalty.

The strings that bound them to the Empire would gather around their throats, a noose made of good intentions and false hope, and one by one the Imperial Legatus strung them up and let them rot.

Gaius had nothing to bury but broken machinery and the echoes of children at war. When the Warrior of Light finally helped him seek solace for all that Valens had done, he felt as if there was just as little left of himself, too.

It came as a surprise, then, when the sky began to fall, that neither Gaius nor his remaining child turned into their own fear and uncertainty. As the remaining villagers began to transform, skin and bone into decay and death, he and his daughter remained.

What was the end of the world to those who had lost all but each other?

The blasphemy that haunts the forestry around Terncliff screams one night, a sound half torturous and half inhumane, a vicious, guttural laughter that those who encountered Valens van Varro could never forget.

It is dubbed Fimbulvetr. It is a beast not to be ignored, a beast borne of a boy who had his orphanage ravaged by Valens' mechanical soldiers. He had lived through certain death once, and when the sky began to turn red, his peers collapsing into frothing, soot-bleeding things, he believed the worst days of his life were returning. He had fled into the woods, running for his life, until - under the full red moon - he came across the skeletal remains of the Diamond Weapon.

Fimbulvetr towers past the trees. They are part machine and part person, as if it had simply began gathering up the scrapheap remains of a Garlean occupation. When not cowering among the foliage by daylight, they are calling out for whoever can hear them, mimicked laughter and scared sobbing on an endless loop.

With little and less experience in combat and the inability to put down a child the settlement had once known and cared for, panic and unrest becomes palpable. Even if those in Terncliff got aid from others in Werlyt, they were farmers and fishmongers - few had ever involved themselves in conflict by choice.

And so it fell to the man who had seen his own children laid to rest. The man that had slaughtered nine throne usurpers. The man who had extended an olive branch on the Empire's behalf over a decade before and now resided, desolate and alone, at the outskirts of town, still trying to pull the gristly remains of his existence from the broken corpse the Empire had left behind.

He had led before. He would do it again - just once more.

In the ensuing conflict between Fimbulvetr and their cobbled together militia, Gaius cuts down yet another malady of nature. Their wounds weep blood-tinged ceruleum: flesh carves away to steel innards. They laugh. They laugh. They laugh, sick and familiar.

Until they don't, and it is just a boy begging as he had less than a handful of summers before: Don't hurt me. Don't hurt me. Please.

When Gaius awakes, the sky is blue and the moon is silver and full, shadowed by the sun. In the moment he had hesitated, a father looking at a son begging to be put out of his misery, the beast had lunged.

He is told the Warrior of Light appeared. He is told the machina melted into boy and then into soot and ash, that - finally, finally - nothing remained of the Weapons in the cliff side.

When he awakens, it is the middle of the night. Allie is asleep at his side. Severa and Valdeaulin are snoring in chairs brought from his sitting room. There are flowers on his kitchen table and meals in his Garlean icebox.

He is glad to be alive.

Once he recovers and is able to walk again, he adds the boys name to their memorial, etched below the name of his own children.

[calico-heart]

I FINALLY finished the Sorrow of Werlyt questline tonight (have been sitting on that Diamond Weapon trial for MONTHS shh) and had been toying with the idea of Lyrha and the Red Mage fam being involved in this. 100% settled on that being canon now.

She struggles a lot in her story with how to reconcile her past as both a victim and a perpetrator of immense abuse, much of which she has no way to make right. It's a huge obstacle - feeling both unworthy of the Red and corned by her previous ignorance.

These kids being taken up into a violent regime they grew to embrace would hit very close to home for her, a stolen child who was raised as a protege by the very fiend who attacked her home and kidnapped her. She didn't question Baagvai's teachings even when he betrayed her, just doubled down on her own jaded cruelty.

And like Gaius, she was forcibly torn from her misguided life and aspirations. She made allies who's mere actions and morals discredited all the justifications she had, all her beliefs about the world and Might Makes Right. She realized none of that suffering she'd experienced or inflicted had been necessary. There were other ways, and better ones.

Valdeaulin's angst over whether to kill Gaius in righteous vengeance would tap into a very familiar fear of Lyrha's too - of X'rhun's wrath, if he discovered the truth of who she really used to be before he found her bleeding out in the dirt by the side of the road

While other characters in her story deal with feelings of inadequacy and guilt, Arya and X'rhun certainly aren't carrying the same kinds of sins. And that's been isolating and frightening for Lyrha.

But Gaius is notorious. And he's now grappling with a familiar struggle. Here's someone who might understand, who's choices and fate she can use as a model for what her own might be, caught as she is between the horror of who she was and the hope for who she could yet be.

I mean look at this jhhjkhklj

A lot of stuff Lyrha needs to hear, in there. I might even see if I can tie in the moment she tells X'rhun the truth about her past into this arc LOL

[mosthuggableffxiv]

Round 1B: Valens van Varro vs Ilberd Feare

"Torturing children, creating weapons that kill the user on purpose, racism, jealousy, huge ego, power plays, bad armor design, plus he has stupid hair and a weird milk fetish."

"Asshole."

[pangolinheart]

FFXIVWrite 2023 DAY 5 - BARBAROUS

Uhhhh I really don't know what happened with this one gang it kind of got out control. I couldn't help but think about the Werlyt questline, which are probably the bosses that Rhiki has found the most viscerally upsetting of any that she's faced. I thought it would probably remind her of all of the people she knows from Garlean-occupied territories. So because angst is squarely within my comfort zone, I decided to make it vaguely shippy to stretch my brain a little, with a pairing that I at one point bandied about but never really totally sold myself on. Anyway, in the spirit of the event and because I'm queueing this at 2:00 am, this has only been loosely edited. Apologies in advance for any typos!

Rating: Teen Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort Characters: Z'rhiki Irhi (Warrior of Light), Sidurgu Orl Pairings: Sidurgu Orl/Warrior of Light Word Count: 2,750 Content Warnings: Mentions of (non-explicit) body horror, mentions of character death, mentions of alcohol use, general angst

“Alright, what’s going on?” Sidurgu asked, closing the door to his room behind them. 

Z’rhiki spared him a glance and a brief quirk of her lips as she moved past him deeper into the room. She slumped onto the edge of his unmade bed. “That obvious, huh?” 

“Yes.” It really was. She couldn’t have believed she was hiding it well. It looked like she hadn’t slept in days – dark circles ringing her eyes and her skin an unusual pallor. Her hair was always tousled and choppy, but tonight it looked actually unkempt, perhaps from being blown about in the cold Coerthan wind. She hadn’t reached up to fix it, though. In fact, he noticed, she was hardly moving at all. It was strange to see her awake but almost entirely still; she was usually so animated that he had stopped noticing her constant flurry of movement until it was suddenly absent.  

“For a start,” he continued when she didn’t respond, “It’s the middle of the night.” 

She smiled weakly down at her hands. “Sorry,” She muttered quietly. “I figured you would still be up.” 

He shook his head. “It’s fine.” She had been right – he kept odd hours, though less-so now the he had Rielle to look after. Having been kept underground for so long, with no way of knowing whether it was day or night, had taken its toll on her internal clock, too, but over time her schedule had begun to even out, which he thought was probably a good thing. Still, it was out of the ordinary for her to appear so late, after Rielle had already gone to bed. She hadn’t seemed in the mood for a drink or small talk, either. 

“You look terrible,” He pointed out. 

“Thanks.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm. 

“You know that’s not what I meant,” Had the mood been different, he might have been willing to indulge her with some of their usual back-and-forth, but tonight seemed… different. 

The room fell silent, save for the whistling of wind through the poorly sealed window panes. 

“So…?” He started when she didn’t offer any further explanation, trailing off in the vain hope that she would continue his sentence. It was unnerving to see her this quiet, too. He’d seen her like this before, but only once or twice. It must have been bad.  

He leaned back against the table across from his bed, absently brushing some of the bottles out of his way, and looked at her expectantly. 

She shook her head back at him, though she was still examining the cracked plaster at the base of the opposite wall. “Don’t worry. It’s nothing. I’m fine.” That clearly wasn’t true. “I don’t really want to talk about it.” 

Sidurgu sighed. “Alright,” – he certainly wasn’t in a position to demand she open up about her feelings  – “Then... what do you want me to do?” Did she want to drink? Have sex? What? ‘Why is she here…?’ 

Another headshake. “Nothing, nothing…” Finally, she raised her eyes to look at him. “It’s just… good to see you, is all.” 

He blinked. He hadn’t been expecting to hear that.  

“That bad, was it?” He huffed. 

“Don’t say that,” she responded in a low voice, looking away again. 

It was true, but he didn’t intend to press the issue tonight, if he ever intended to press it at all. The pattern hadn’t been lost on him, though. This was where she always came when things had been bad. And the worse they had been, the more likely she was to turn up at the Forgotten Knight. Usually, she was able to keep it together while Rielle was around, appearing her normal chatty, sunshine-y self. After Rielle went to bed, however… 

He wasn’t sure if her late arrival tonight had been intentional or just happenstance. 

He pushed himself off the table and came to settle next to her with a sigh. To his surprise, she almost instantly leaned into him, resting her cheek against his bicep and making him glad that he had let Rielle talk him into wearing “normal” clothes once in a while. Rhiki was always the touch-y type, but she didn’t usually get so… cuddly unless she’d been drinking. 

He didn’t move, just let her press against him. He waited. Either she would say something, or they would just sit in silence like this all night. He could live with that – it wouldn’t be the first long, snowy night he’d spent awake, after all.  

They sat quietly for a time, listening to the wind and the creaking of the old wooden sign above the tavern door outside. The sparse candles that lit the room flickered. 

Eventually, she did speak again, quietly but clearly. 

“I just came from Werlyt.” 

“Werlyt?” He’d heard of the place, but had only vague knowledge of it. He knew it was the territory that lay between Garlemald and Ala Mhigo, and that it had been occupied by the Empire, but little beyond that. 

He felt her nod against him. For a handful of seconds, he thought she’d lapsed into silence again, but it seemed she had just been gathering her thoughts. 

“Do you ever think about… what it would be like if you’d never come to Ishgard?” 

He snorted. Even he could hear the bitterness in his voice when he said, “I haven’t bothered thinking about that in years.” There was no point in dwelling on what might have been. Not when he had his hands full contending with what was. 

“That’s what I thought you’d say,” was all she said in response. 

He considered leaving it at that, but his curiosity got the better of him. “What makes you ask that?” 

This time he felt another headshake. “Nothing, I just…” Her voice cracked. “It was really bad, Sid.”  

He’d been able to figure that much out on his own. 

She was trembling now, ever so slightly, though her breathing was unnaturally even – trying to keep herself calm, he supposed. Awkwardly, he shifted their position so that the arm that she had been leaning against was instead wrapped around her. 

“Tell me,” he said softly. It was the least he could do for her. Hells, it was the only thing he could do for her.  

Another wordless moment stretched between them, and he began to think she wasn’t going to. Sometimes, especially lately, she didn’t want to. He remembered the words she had said the first night he’d seen her after her return from the First. 

“I have to live the rest of my life with all of these horrible pictures in my head. I don’t want you to have to live with them too.”  

He had enough of his own already. 

Then again, it wasn’t like he could get much more damaged, so to hells with it. What was the saying? ‘Pain shared is pain halved’ or some such bullocks? That certainly wasn’t true, but at least pain shared was… well, shared. 

Rhiki seemed content with the new arrangement of their bodies and rested her head against his chest so he could see only half of her face when he looked down. 

“There were these siblings,” she said after a while. 

“They were from Werlyt – orphans, I think. Only two of them were actually related. Their parents were probably killed in the Garlean invasion. But they were taken in by Gaius van Baelsar, of all people, and I guess they enlisted in the Imperial Army before he defected…. 

“Anyway, they got involved in this project the Garlean military was working on to create warmachina like the Ultima Weapon. That’s why I was called there – to help stop a Garlean war machine headed towards Eorzea. We met them, for a few minutes, right before the first machine appeared, and they traded some heated words with Gaius. The youngest one couldn’t have been older than 16….”  

She had managed to keep her composure so far, and even lifted her head from him a little as she spoke. Clearly, though, she hadn’t begun to broach the part that had shaken her. 

“After that, the Ruby Weapon – that was what they called it – showed up. We couldn’t just let it march all the way through to Ala Mhigo, of course, so we tried to stop it. Everything was going pretty well, but then it all got… got weird. Suddenly there was this yelling, screaming, from inside of the machine and then the top of it started to crack. Then there was this horrible, wet sound and something exploded out of it. It-It looked like Nael Van Darnus, or at least some twisted version of him- her? But it had wings. It was all white and slick and dripping this awful-smelling fluid everywhere… just thinking about it makes me want to vomit.” 

She shuddered, then sucked in a deep breath. 

“And if fought like Nael too – don’t ask me how I know. But we managed to take it down, somehow. And that’s… that’s when we learned the worst part. They were trying to get to the pilot, maybe salvage some parts and figure out what the Garleans were up to with it if they could, but,” She was shaking again, her voice becoming hoarse and pitchy, and she buried her face back into his shirt. “There was nothing we could do! The pilot, one of the siblings, she… she was fused into the machine. Cid – Cid Garland, I mean – said it must have been an agonizing way to die. I heard the screaming but I- I didn’t know what was happening!” 

By that point he could see tears starting to slide down her cheeks. His grip around her tightened in a way he hoped was comforting. He never knew what to do or what to say when she cried. So he usually didn’t do or say anything at all, which, somehow, seemed to be just the thing she wanted. 

“And it wasn’t an accident! I was designed to do that! All so that- so that they could hijack the poor pilot’s brain and upload combat data of famous Garlean soldiers! It was awful! And Gaius ��� Gaius has done horrible things to thousands of people but- but no one deserves to have something like that happen to someone they care about, not even him!” 

Sid grimaced. He didn’t know if it was the words themselves or the way they made his friend tremble and sob against him, but they hung like a heavy weight on his stomach.  

“And it kept happening!” She continued, unable to stop the words once they had started flowing. “And I couldn’t do anything to stop it! I knew what was happening but I- I couldn’t just let them kill people! They all died horrific, excruciating deaths! And for what?” One of her hands had found purchase on his shirt and twisted in it. 

“As if that wasn’t awful enough, the- the few times I actually saw them I got visions, through the Echo, of things that happened back within their legion and… the Garleans, the legatus, they treated them like they were garbage! Like they weren’t even people! I guess to them they weren’t! And I- It was just- I guess I had always known what the world was like but I… how can people be so cruel to each other? The sineaters on the First were terrible in their own way, but they were just monsters! They didn’t have any thoughts, or feelings – they just existed to consume and corrupt. But these were people! And it’s so much worse knowing that regular people can be that monstrous! How can anyone get any joy out of something so- so horrible? The Garleans call us savages, but that… that was just barbaric. And I can’t help but think of everyone I know, all of my friends, who are from places that Garlemald invaded – you, Naago, Yugiri, Raubahn, Lyse… and how if just a few things had been different one of you could have ended up in the same place, and how I can’t stand to think of anyone treating you the way those poor people – kids! – were treated!“ 

She broke off for a short while, muffling her sobs into his chest while he looked down at her helplessly. After a few slow, trembling breaths, she composed herself enough to go on, quieter this time. 

“I can’t stop thinking about it. I can’t stop dreaming about it. Sometimes it’s just like living through it all over again, but sometimes when we open the machine it’s not one of them…. Sometimes it’s Yugiri. Sometimes it’s Naago. But a lot of times it’s also you, too, and I-“ She broke off, pulling away just enough to wipe furiously at her eyes with the back of her hand. “And I know that’s stupid! And that there’s no reason to think about it! But I can’t- I just-“ 

A few more deep breaths. Sidurgu wasn’t sure what to think about… any of it, really. It did seem like a strange mental leap to make, and he was a little surprised she found it so distressing, especially on his account. Regardless, it was clear how much it had upset her, and he couldn’t fault her for that. 

“And I- I don’t mean to say that what happened to you and your family here was any better – it wasn’t! And it would be terrible of me to act like it was but…” She wrapped both of her arms around his waist having to pull herself almost into his lap to do so. Her head came to rest against his chest again. “I’m just glad that you’re here, where I can come see you and talk to you and give you a hug, rather trapped in one of those-those machines.” 

He exhaled, eventually wrapping both of his arms around her as well. The gesture seemed to calm her a bit, and they sat like that for a few minutes, feeling the warmth of one another and the rise and fall of each other’s chests. 

Eventually, Rhiki started to peel herself back from him. “I’m sorry,” she sniffled, rubbing at her red eyes again, this time with the heel of her hand. “I’m sorry. That was a lot. I didn’t mean to just dump all of that on y-“ 

“It’s fine.” He cut her off. He had never been very good at sounding soothing, but he did his best. “I’m here. I’m fine.”  

That wasn’t true, of course. Neither of them were fine, or they wouldn’t be where they were. But he was sure she understood his meaning. He wasn’t fine, but he was at least at a typical level of un-fine.   

“I know.” She offered him a trepidatious smile, her face still damp from tears. “I just needed to remind myself.” 

She pulled him into another, fiercer hug, and he huffed in a familiar display of feigned annoyance. He took a moment to enjoy the embrace nonetheless, and reached one hand up to scratch lightly at the base of her scalp. 

“It’s late. Do you want to stay the night?” He knew how she would answer even before he felt the nod. 

“Are you going to let go of me?” 

“No,” she mumbled into his shirt. 

He sighed, and hoped she didn’t see how dangerously close he came to smiling. Oh well. He supposed there were worse places to be. 

[talesfromwerlyt]

Oh look, a gpose comic.

[seris-the-ishgard-simp]

Im doing the 6.4 Tartaru Quest and im very certain this happend

[fourteentheart]

A very small preview image of an indulgent charm I made for myself! These will be 3" glow acrylic with a star shaped keyring.

I wanted something focusing on the Werlyt kids and this was instantly beamed into my mind with their updated text. Ricon says they should all go to the beach after playing hide and seek and watch the stars til they fall asleep T_T

Some rambling about design choices below.

The front design stayed close to my original draft but the back changed quite a bit!

Originally I wanted a silhouette of the kids at the bottom looking up at the stars, but once I started looking at how the design would scale I figured I could upscale the front lineart and have the glow acrylic shine thru so the kids faces could be seen at a larger scale. :)

I considered making Allie in color on the starry side to reference the unfortunate passing of her siblings but then I thought... maybe I don't have to constantly remind myself of that. Maybe this is just a cute charm where they DO all live and are enjoying the night sky together!

(Another idea I had was giving the kids wings that would show up when the charm glowed lmao)

The text was originally planned to be in the middle of the starry sky before it ended up on the bottom with a border because I didn't like how it obstructed the kids' lineart if I went with the original layout.

My perception of the kids is heavily influenced now by my own headcanons and AUs but I tried to inject some personality into each of their sleepy poses.

Crafted with love and care because I made this for me, hehe. I want to see how the gradient fares for the starry sky side before seeing if anyone else is interested in a charm. If there is some interest I'll probably do a small run at cost + admin fee for packaging and dropping off packages. I'm not in the business of selling, so I don't like to keep inventory on hand lol

Overall I'm very excited with this design and glad I am fortunate enough to have the means to see it to fruition!

Fun fact: When designing this I said to myself "This is JUST for the Werlyt kids. No Gaius. No Makoh'to. Just them."

[villainousintent]

Seeing folks arguing about Sorrows of Werlyt on multiple platforms refuse to engage with it critically outside of what does/doesn't make sense in-universe. Like the FFXIV writing team has a habit of writing these righteous fascist characters. Despite being villainous and antagonistic they share traits with the heroes; i.e. they are loyal, dedicated and even virtuous. Gaius is like this from ARR, we're told by one of his commanding officers he doesn't discriminate unlike the other Garleans and uplifts any worthy fighter in his ranks. That dumb ass moment with Regula van Hydrus when he dies and the Scions along with the WoL mourn him. There's many more moments that go beyond just humanizing the Garleans.

This game spends so much time trying to make you sympathize with the Garlean conquerors while placing them alongside their atrocities and xenophobic language. They talk about racial/national purity and denounce everyone else as "savages." Like someone wrote all of this shit. Endwalker, especially irks me.

What baffles me is folks talking about how Werlyt deconstructs Garlean ideology like what is there to deconstruct, it's Nazi shit. You need to spell out why it's bad?? Lmao. Had to put a cartoon villain next to an even more cartoon villain and leverage children to purify his character through the narrative. He is redeemed as far as the narrative (and the fans) is concerned, it just took murdering a half-dozen children to do it.

And like that's all well and good or whatever, but this stuff doesn't arrive fully formed from the aether as it were. It's written by people. It's seen by many eyes. It's shaped by the culture of its writers. Japan is a former imperialist nation surrounded by country's it's terrorized. Those scars run deep. So maybe don't like snap at folks from say South Korea who show displeasure at the news cuz they don't "get" Sorrows of Werlyt.

[dragoon-mid-jump]

*head-in-hands Big Sad over Gaius raising his adopted Au Ra children a little too well and then losing all but one of them to EVAs because the Empire Fucking Sucks and drove them to such lengths to liberate their homeland and gain their freedom*

[candlelethe]

[foxlin-fantasia]

glam plate #4 ! :D

Glamour plate #4 - " Flight Suit "

( y'all ever watch a mech anime? lmaoo extra screenies from The Sorrow of Werlyt quests under read more )

get in the damn robot hanaka !!

this was a glam born of anime nonsense

i don't use this jacket v much but i love it here!

love the pretty metallic red boots & matching bow <3

uuuhhh, pls enjoy the screenshots i'm sorry i didn't take many fullbodies

[heirbane]

my new monitor and hd graphics are a blessing, i promise!!!!

me upon loading up screenshots to make icons, noticing that YEAH, ACTUALLY, THEY DID MAKE GAIUS TEARY, THEY JUST DIDN'T LET HIM ACTUALLY CRY:

[vermanaward]

.

honestly tho the 'funniest' thing about werlyt to me is that like. in its desperate attempt to make baelsar look better than he is (by repeated comparison to valens, among other things), it actually makes him worse. like he's cut up about his adopted orphan retcons and all but apparently didnt give a single blue fuck about them in the [nebulous period of time] between the end of arr and the end of shb. indeed the only thing he has cared about between times is hunting down ascians in an attempt to avenge his ego and not, idk, the kids he took on and then abandoned to the tender mercies of his not-so-tender former colleagues in a fascist empire which even by his own admission is among other things deeply racist

and yea ik that's because the kids are a post-shb retcon that didn't exist when his 'badass' ascian hunter 'redemption arc' storyline was originally penned and yea ik it'd be on brand for someone like gaius to not be like 'oh right duh' until there's already a body count but man. this is not a compliment!