#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.

[pitchbog]

[Happy Starlight, Watcher]

[haunted-xander]

The idea of Alphinaud painting stuff from our journey(s) wouldn't leave my mind so here you go!

+ some close-ups of the paintings

[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