#the watcher ffxiv

[estinininininen]

[kootiepatra]

#FFxivWrite2024 Day 9 - Lend an Ear

The Watcher’s Palace never ceased to fill Keimwyda with a sense of awe—almost a sense of reverence, she supposed, were she to try to define it exactly. The architecture was majestic enough in itself. Crystal blue spires rose high above her, cutting a striking silhouette against the blackness of the great expanse, reminding her of her smallness in a way she found strangely comforting. The curling, golden, ribbon-like accent winding around and through the towers made its Amaurotine influence impossible to miss.

She could not but feel the weight of the stories it told and of the memories it attested to. She remembered a world that had not yet been sundered. She remembered those who lost themselves to grief, to duty, or to malice, doing what they once thought unthinkable as they attempted to contend with calamity. 

She remembered one in particular who stubbornly clung to hope, convinced that mankind could—and indeed, must—rise above the despair to which many a star had fallen. She thought of the unenviable decisions that the woman had made. She thought of the arduous, solitary wait, spending all Her strength to buy mankind every spare moment She could. She thought of Her unwillingness to accept any well-intended justification of Her choices.

But of course, She had not done it alone.

Keimwyda pushed open the enormous doors of the palace and quietly let herself inside. Her boots lightly clicked against the polished marble tiles, echoing in the vast, open interior. It did not take long to see if the tower’s occupant was in—his opalescent, shimmering robe was unmistakable, slouched peacefully in his customary seat.

“Ah,” he said, sitting up and acknowledging her arrival. Even seated, he towered above her. “Chosen of Hydaelyn. You are welcome here, as ever.” 

By now, Keimwyda was accustomed to how his indistinct, melodious voice resounded in her ears, even as she knew his words in her mind. She had come to find it quite pleasant. She bowed lightly. “Hello, and I thank you for your hospitality.”

He returned a gentle nod. “It has been some time. I trust there have been no further disturbances in the Void?”

“No, no,” she answered quickly. “All is well. To the best of our knowledge, our friends continue to labor for its restoration.”

“That is well. I wish them success. What brings you to this sanctum this day?”

Keimwyda briefly considered attempting to relay the creative—and sometimes dubious—errands she had been sent on by the Loporrits at Hoper’s Hold. But even as she opened her mouth, the whole thing struck her as, perhaps, a little bit complicated to get into. So she shrugged, “Oh, I was simply passing by, and I hoped it might be all right to drop in.” It was true enough—this had been a spontaneous decision on her part.

“But of course. What is it you would seek of me?”

Was this silly? This might be silly. But she had come this far. “Nothing in particular,” she replied. “I just wished to say hello.”

The Watcher inclined his head at her curiously. His face was an inscrutable blank, as it always was.

She continued, “‘Tis just that—well, you have done so much for us. For my friends and I, but also for our star. And I cannot help but think how much you have had to do all alone.”

A warm chuckle emerged from the robed figure. “I thank you for your concern, but I am compelled to remind you: I am not the researcher who once was. I am but a construct based upon his memories. It was for this very purpose I was created.”

“I understand. But so were the Loporrits, as far as I comprehend it—and they have wants and needs and personalities enough.”

Another hum of laughter. “Indeed they do. And rest assured, since their awakening, they have come to visit me quite often.”

“Full glad am I to hear it,” she smiled. “But for my part, I do feel a debt of gratitude to you. And—trite as I fear it sounds—I would not wish to neglect one who has been such a stalwart ally. In case you might ever want for company, or for a listening ear.”

The Watcher was silent for a long moment, in a way Keimwyda found impossible to read. At last, he replied. “I see. And I thank you for your kind gesture.”

She was not fully sure how to interpret that. She was not fully sure if any of this was meaningful or necessary to him. But she still could not shake the sensation that it was only right to at least make the effort. Maybe it was more for her sake than his. …but maybe that did not matter. For lack of any furniture her size, she sat on the ground, and made herself as comfortable as she could.

“...Shall I send for some tea?” the Watcher ventured.

“Oh, no thank you,” Keimwyda chuckled. She decided to give up on looking for a more graceful segue, and simply asked what she was wondering: “...Has it been lonely?”

“As I said before, the Loporrits come by quite often.”

Keimwyda shook her head. “I guess I mean… before that. If it is not too personal of a question.”

The Watcher hesitated. “... ‘Personal’ is a challenging term for me to consider. As is ‘lonely’. Hydaelyn created me for this express purpose, and designed me to withstand it. So I cannot rightly say if either descriptor may apply to my situation.”

“I see.” Keimwyda could only accept his answer, but it did not fully allay her concerns.

“...I can say that, judging by the memories of my forebear, he knew their plan would be difficult, and lengthy. And he agreed to it unreservedly.”

A pang of melancholic gratitude hit Keimwyda’s heart. “Their efforts certainly paid off.”

“That they did,” he replied, something of a smile in his tone. “At the risk of overstepping my authority, still I feel I may conclude thus: should he know all that their plans entailed, he would gladly agree to it again. He was one of Venat’s most ardent supporters”

Keimwyda nodded. Then she paused again. “...I miss Her.”

After a time, the Watcher replied, “…I do as well.” His words seemed to surprise them both. He corrected himself, “Or, perhaps, I imagine the man I am based upon would miss Her, were he in my stead.”

She regarded him thoughtfully. “…I cannot help but wonder if that distinction is immaterial.”

“Ha!” laughed the Watcher, a fuller laugh than Keimwyda had ever heard from him. “You touch upon a question far beyond the mortal ken. The Amaurotines of eld ever debated such things, along with the ramifications.”

“True. And I cannot claim to match their wisdom,” she shrugged.

“But perhaps…” he mused, “...in the most practical of applications, perhaps you are right.”

Keimwyda smiled. Now this felt like getting somewhere. “Would you tell me what you remember about Her?”

“I am always at the disposal of Hydaelyn’s allies. What sort of information do you require?”

“Just…whatever you feel like talking about. What mattered to you. Or at least, what rings as significant in your memories.”

Silence fell again upon the palace. The Watcher lowered his gaze to the floor, seeming to process if such a question was relevant to him, or if its answer was even accessible to him. Keimwyda just rested her chin on her hands and waited. She had no expectations of how this would go.

At last, he raised his head again, and looked back at her. “...She was always and unrelentingly kind,” he said.

“That She was,” she answered softly. “Tell me more?”

And so he did.

[amaurotine-daydreaming]

Orbital (Prompt 9 - Lend An Ear)

It was Menphina who had told the Watcher that, as Hydaelyn, Venat had become in every sense the many-splendored jewel he had always imagined: bright, sparkling, and with countless facets. 

He wondered the ways in which Venat might have changed over so many millennia. From his balcony, he could see her, the living embodiment of Etheirys, but couldn’t speak to her. Couldn’t reach her.

---

It could be so very quiet without the voices of others.

Not unlike the archives at Akadaemia Anyder, the Watcher supposed. The great expanse reminded him of its empty, cavernous halls once the last lamp had been extinguished for the evening: Vast and silent.

Most sound did not travel between the stars, he had learned. But Hydaelyn had woven across the moon breathable air, and the Loporrits maintained its flow even as they slumbered on, and the resulting ambience gave him some semblance of company.

Aye, as a phantom his footfalls made no noise, his robes did not rustle while they moved…but there was the timepiece in his palace, thudding a low, steady heartbeat. There was the skittering of lunar debris and moon dust as winds swept across this land’s pockmarked surface. The pylons, when he did his rounds to examine their integrity, crackled with levin. Zodiark’s prison hummed. 

The Watcher had been gifted with endless patience, and so these little things were enough; but the memories granted to him told of a man who enjoyed stimulating conversation. He remembered many evenings where his conversations with Venat would last late into the night…

He would gladly bend his ear to her should she ever need it, both then and now.

Alas, so rarely did she speak to him now that she was Hydaelyn, her own duty calling on her to devote most of her energy to communing with her chosen. Those cherished instances he had with her had been made only fewer as the Ascians marshaled their schemes with ever more brazenness.

He would not have minded being one of her Warriors of Light.

But he had his place. Hydaelyn had granted his entreaty to serve as her ever-watchful eyes over Zodiark, and this solemn vigil he would always honor.

The doors to his palace banged open. An excited barking, a scrabbling of claws on tile, and then all at once the Watcher had a very large, very affectionate dog putting his paws up on his lap. 

The Watcher cocked his head in welcome. “Hello, Dalamud.”

“Dal! Dal, down! Heavens….”

In Dalamud’s wake came the hound’s mistress Menphina, both bubbly and chiding. 

Dalamud reluctantly took his paws off the Watcher and sat at the shade’s feet with a heavy thump. Somewhat on his feet, truth be told, but pain was not a sensation that troubled the Watcher as a shade. Even if it had, it would be a feeling much diluted…

The Watcher knew that not all of his shards survived. Some had been consigned to oblivion by the Rejoinings, another had violently met its end at the point of a voidsent’s sword. 

How Hydaelyn had wept for these lost worlds, and for him.

The Watcher scratched behind one of Dalamud’s ears, right at the base. Back and forth went the great hound’s tail in wide happy swishes.

It was Menphina who had told the Watcher that, as Hydaelyn, Venat had become in every sense the many-splendored jewel he had always imagined: bright, sparkling, and with countless facets. 

He wondered the ways in which she might have changed over so many millennia. No doubt more brilliant facets had been etched into her. From his balcony, he could see her, the living embodiment of Etheirys, but couldn’t speak to her. Couldn’t reach her.

Menphina, goddess of the moon where the Watcher made his home, was not thusly bound. Menphina, who enjoyed visiting when she could; they had known one another in their lives before this one, after all.

Menphina, who knew men’s hearts…including his own. She always hearkened to those in need of a sympathetic ear, especially those hearts that were plagued with love and yearning.

While Hydaelyn had spared the Watcher some discomforts, emotions - good and ill - were essential to faithful stewardship of those on Etheirys. To ever remember what it was to be mortal.

Dalamud lifted a paw, and Menphina took her seat upon it. She buried her hands in her companion’s ashen fur and leaned against him, looking up at the Watcher with sympathetic affection.

“Tell me what troubles you, dearheart.”

And so the Watcher spoke, and Menphina listened.

[pommancy]

huevember 1 Watcher's palace

[mmhberry]

[tearlunars]

I FOUND A HOUSE MADE OF GLASS.

[misswarrioroflight]

I am not really happy with this but I still have a lot to learn my friend anyways I met this bit comfy guy who looks like he's wearing a blanket I used to own I like him

[amalthea-felsblood]

∘〆Visiting The Watcher〆∘

"You cannot change fate. However, you can rise to meet it, if you so choose."

-Princess Mononoke

[bloochouli]

not rly happy with it honestly 😭 i think i roughly have an idea on what i need to study but man it sucks to put hours of work and detail into something and then at the very end realizing that kinda everything is off but anyway. next time maybe idk

[feralkwe]

sometimes you just go to the moon because you have questions.

[hotshotriot]

the unsundered

[asleepinawell]

EUPHROSYNE QUEST SPOILERS BELOW

some observant people on twitter caught that dialogue exchanged between althyk and nymeia was the same as that of two npcs from a side quest chain in elpis (Maira was one of them) and some of the creatures you fight in euphrosyne were ones they were working with in elpis

based on what we learn at the end of the euphrosyne quests this could mean those two people in elpis went on to be part of venat's hydaelyn group

since I believe all the people in her group were fully consumed by the summoning process this could mean that they are shades she made of them, much how the watcher was a shade of her friend, and the powers they developed came from humanity's power of belief in them over the ages (similar to primals in that way without actually being primals). the fact the watcher is directly mentioned along with them by the monument could support the idea that they're all the same type of being

venat could have created them to help rebuild humanity but with the idea that they not interfere and let humanity grow and make its own choices, which fits with a lot of what the twelve have told us

(the part about this that strikes me as hilarious is that hades was the one to encourage us to find out more about the twelve directly after he'd had a good 5 minute long rant about venat lol)

[exploringcastleoblivion]

Junelezen 2024 - Day 14: Waystop

Stopping by the Watcher's Palace on the way to Bestways Burrow

[magellanica]

The Watcher

[pommancy]

Once again, I've made my ffxiv huevember pieces into postcard prints! This holiday send your favourite WOL a seasonal greeting! Reblogs appreciated!

store: pommancy.storenvy.com

[brineffxiv]

Still can't believe, the first Trial of Endwalker is freaking Zodiark. What is happening. Where the heck do we go from here!?

My brain keeps trying to figure out what the missing bit in the middle must look like for the top half to connect with the bottom half.

Gotta say though, great design.

Ahaha! Victory is mine! I have triumphed over the oldest and greatest of primals! Well, 8/14ths of Him, at least.

GTFO of here Zenos. Don't you dare steal my moment. (Aren't you glad you didn't become this god? It would have suuuucked, let me tell you.)

Goodbye Fandanny. Enjoy an eternity of imprisonment inside Zodiark. Let's hope it puts you mentally in stasis as well as physically, because otherwise that might be a tad crueler than even you deserve.

I'm sorry, what? Your plan was for me to defeat you? I thought you wanted to die. You'll note, you're still alive.

Oh what the fuck. He's tearing his own heart out.

Y'know. I wasn't surprised when Fandaniel betrayed Zenos and stole Zodiark for his own plans, surprised exactly what happened, yes, but not the betrayal. But this. Despite it all. I never did believe that what Fandaniel said he wanted was actually the truth. But it apparently is? He truly does only want to die and take everyone with him?

But, I feel like I'm missing something. I don't understand why execute this convoluted plan?? Does he have some personal, Ascian-related reason for wanting Zodiark to die??

How interesting. G'raha was right: you do retain attachment to your prior life as Amon. Why else would your soul retain this form?

What made you like this, then? What mysteries are you taking to the grave?

Goddammit Fandaniel. I swear. If you did all this because of Xande's existential crisis I'm gonna... kill... you?

...Little late for that, I guess.

Oooh that... Doesn't look good.

THE FU-

Wha- Oh fuck. What is happening?!

You mean to tell me.

That all this time.

The Final Days never ended?

That Zodiark was actively protecting us.

You mean to tell me, that the solution Hydaelyn's summoners thought was not enough, that solution, not only worked, but continued to work. For thousands of years. Even sundered.

*flails*

*speechless*

I... I don't even know what to say.

I... We...

We've been keeping, not just Zodiark, but the souls of those that died to summon him. We've been keeping them in a perpetual purgatory. For thousands of years. Because doing it was protecting us from disaster. And we did it. We did it intentionally. We did it knowingly. This isn't a surprise to the Watcher. Hydaelyn knew exactly what She was doing. If Fandaniel hadn't come along, we'd have done it forever. Because we killed the only people who were fighting to free them. The only other people who knew the truth. We never sought alternative solutions. We never looked into what could be the underlying cause of the problem of the Final Days. How could we, when Hydaelyn has done everything in Her power to obfuscate and hide the truth of our reality from us. From even Her chosen.

And if that wasn't enough, now the problem has returned to bite us in the ass. If we had known the truth. That this problem wasn't ever solved, only mitigated... We could have been working on this. We could have had centuries of our brightest minds working to solve this problem. Instead of... nothing. We have nothing. And the Final Days are upon us.

Zenos, I do not have the spoons required to fight you to the death right now; I am having a crisis of faith.

(Also, yo, game, let me get a good look at his monster form. I wanna seeee!)

No you don't. You might think that's what you want, but if there's no hope then there's no reason to fight you. I may as well lie down and die. You want me to come at you with everything I have? Then you want to be standing between me and everything I have a reason to fight for. Hope is the impetus for a good fight. Despair is the opposite of what you want.

This probably wasn't supposed to be funny. But I found it very much so. I'm just letting him casually walk away. The guy who destroyed an entire empire's worth of lives. Just. Walking away. Passing by close enough to touch. Off to find a new and unfathomable source of power. See you Zenos. Good luck on your villain quest.

I enjoy the tension between us. It's clear there's a very deep and personal connection, even if I might not want it to be there. Maybe we really are friends.

Speaking of friends, mine meet me in the Watcher's Palace. Things in Garlemald are not exactly good, but they have been brought under control.

The Watcher and I fill in my friends on what has transpired on the moon, including Zodiark's demise and what the results of that will be. After a brief rest, the Watcher tells us what little he can of the Final Days. The information is much the same as what we already know, save few interesting details.

While ultimately unable to discern the source of the problem, the Convocation developed a method to predict where the outbreaks of destructive phenomena would next occur - where the celestial aether currents were weak and stagnant. Thus, to treat the symptom of the disease afflicting our star, they sought to harness the animating power of Darkness - activity and growth - and so invented and summoned Zodiark.

I understand that the accidental sundering of the world rather disrupted the plan that Hydaelyn's summoners had in mind. The part where they identified and addressed the cause of the Final Days. What I do not understand is why, in the thousands of years that followed, Hydaelyn did not bother to inform any of Her followers that we were living on borrowed time. Ask for help. Tell anybody about anything at all.

Perhaps it's not Her fault, though. Perhaps She is constrained by the limitations of Her summoning? After all, She is a primal. If Her purpose was to restrain Zodiark, perhaps this kind of forethought is beyond the scope of Her ability? Her power is, after all, stasis. It might go against Her fundamental nature to plan for future change.

UGH! And just like that I'm angry again. I had completely forgotten about Hydaelyn's original explanation via Minfilia in the aetherial sea. At the time, I lacked the context for what I was being told to really be able to understand it.

And I realize this is likely a retcon, and the writers' way of smoothing over a story that likely changed slightly in the years it took to tell it through this game.

But in the context of the game... Hydaelyn has lied to me. Deliberately and blatantly. Not just by omission. And the purpose of that lie was to make me believe I was on the righteous side. To make me not question why certain actions had to be taken. To make me not sympathize with those who opposed Her.

Hydaelyn's biggest flaw, the largest strike against Her in my eyes, is how she deals with control of information. She has been, historically, the only one able to tell the story of our star's history and what happened upon it. And time and again She refuses to tell the truth, instead selectively sharing the facts - and now blatant lies! - that paint the picture She would prefer.

It's all very well and good for Her to love us, but we need to know the truth in order to freely choose to love Her.

I should not have found out the truth about what She was and our history from Emet-Selch. I should not have been forced to fight Zodiark not knowing that if I killed him we'd all die. We should not be in this situation right now because we should have been working on a way to resolve this issue a LONG time ago.

In order to learn from history we need to remember it. The good and the bad. The tragedy of Amaurot and the ancients cannot be undone, but it could have been learned from. It could have saved us. If Hydaelyn had allowed us to know about it.

Look, I'm not saying Hydaelyn is the bad guy. Far from it. Clearly we owe our continued existence to Her. She is our champion and is on our side in this. I'm just saying... I don't like how She handles information. It feels like She's afraid we'll turn on Her if we know the truth, and so she's decided we don't need to know it. It's... infantilizing. Surely you can understand that, Y'shtola? You of all people must understand the frustration of having vital information withheld from you: you've never met a mystery you didn't want to solve.

Hydaelyn asks a lot from us. She asks her chosen to give their lives in service to her. I'm not comfortable writing Her that blank check, especially now that I know it's not just lies of omission She's been telling.

That... is a very good question, Thancred.

Well fuck me. We're in even more trouble than I realized.

The Watcher takes us outside to show us something; the strange building across the chasm has lit up. Hydaelyn feared what would happen in the event of Zodiark's demise, and so built a contingency plan (ah, how interesting, so she can plan for the future...) which has now been set into motion.

The moon is a spaceship. A spaceship designed to save the people of our star in the event of the Final Days.

The Watcher is going to take us to meet its pilots.