Charakter

A series of blog posts that might as well be accompanied by an ominous background drone at this point.

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Heavensward approaches. A bit over 20 quests remain before I reach the city of Ishgard, according to a sly little peek. Curious timing that my image quota for Lodestone also hit its limit now. I've been forced to rely on external hosting. Unlike Highwind Skyways, I am not too proud to admit that I've purloined a good idea. I first found a Google Photos-based approach from lady Ichinose's blog, attempted to reverse engineer the direct linking method, then used my limited Japanese backed by machine translation to find out that the method I developed is just as silly as the one from a tutorial I've found. I suppose I could ask people directly, but I've been too lazy about my Japanese studies not to accidentally make a fool of myself in the process.

There wasn't much in the way of diversions before we set about making a chunk in those twenty quests today. The important one was that Dominique acquired Rauna Lucis after a... surprisingly small amount of effort, compared to the ordeal of Vulcan Lucis. It just took some three rounds of treefelling and a handful of pearls from all the Ixali deliveries. For this grand endeavour, Dominique was awarded the title of Light of the Land: an appropriate appellation for a Warrior of Light, is it not?

Back when the unpleasantness at Ul'dah started, there was the matter of the arms merchants that provided the rebels with more than the traditional torches and pitchforks. Dominique was to investigate a lead the Crystal Braves had. Had. By the time Oro the Chocobo got us to the lead, a fresh recruit had accidentally stabbed the lead in question and the trail ran cold with his death. We helped ourselves to the weapon cache he left in his unwilling will, but the cache was also much lighter than expected. I see two and two and they're adding up to three, but there's no time for my math woes as Lucia of the Ishgardians had requested Dominique's presence.

The Dragonstar in the empyrean portended that a wyrm shall cry havoc and let loose the drakes of war upon Ishgard. There are two wyrms capable of such a feat: one whose name eludes the plot transcripts, and the other Midgardsormr, whose corpse yet lay entwined around the Garlean starship, now named the Keeper of the Lake. Lucia says that we really ought to check it out, you know, just in case? Especially considering the Garleans holed up at the Castrum are also up to no good at their flagship's wreck? A dungeon run was in order for Dominique.

You know, I didn't expect Midgardsormr to be actually alive. A Garlean monstrousity of necrotic flesh or maybe an Ascian plot, sure, but not this. Midgardsormr awaited as end boss, and then provided further surprises in the ensuing cutscenes. First, an orb of the immortal Echo-stuff. Second, talk of the dragonkin's contempt for Ishgard for some offence past. He knows the mark of Hydaelyn which blocks him from outright murder, but that doesn't stop a spear of light through Dominique's chest, which darkens the mindscape crystals and severs the connection from Hydaelyn. In its place, some kind of covenant and a minion-sized baby Midgardsormr as a parting gift. A covenant was struck. "I drink of Her body, and thence doth mine own find new life. When it hath grown whole, the loyal and penitent shall rejoice. The Dragonsong heraldeth a beginning...and an end."

Nothing makes sense. This is not an unnatural situation for us here, but it's a more pleasant malaise than the usual stupor brought about by Ascian monologues. Still a confusing one. Dominique's not displeased with losing the blessing of the light, unbidden as it was, but the whole thing feels like trading one set of fetters for another. We'd ask our guest Lucia for clarification, but being Ishgardian, she'd probably just cry heresy and storm off to organise a failed crusade. As is becoming ever so common, we will just have to accept this and move on as we return to the topic of trying to permanently kill an Ascian.

Where last we left this topic, we had the means to disperse an Ascian, but not the power. This is still a problem, but Moenbryda has a idea: why not just use all those fancy landscape crystals? Position-dependent, yes, but we have means of transmitting power. Just need to test them without risking rapid unscheduled disassembly of the humanoid body should the experiments go wrong. Lucky for us, the lands near Castrum Meridianum host crystals just large enough to do so. After a bit of border dispute resolution with the neighbours there, we just Moenbryda to do her nerd stuff and we'd be ready for any shadowy Shadowless figures!

Moenbryda revealed her love of both axes and learning as she worked, endearing herself greatly to Dominique. Yet, on my part, I could do nothing but think about the death flags that were popping up with every bit of backstory. An Ascian popping up was no surprise... although the quest was named "An Uninvited Ascian" so I can hardly take credit. The nasally one was indeed Nabriales, and he gloated as he discovered that Dominique was stripped of Hydaelyn's protection, not for lack of effort on our friend's part. There was a staff he was particularly keen on, and it didn't take a detective to find out he was referring to the broken Tupsimati, right there in the Solar...

The protection of the Rising Stones from lower Ascians like Nabriales had been contingent on the protection of Hydaelyn. What makes them lower, I cannot say, but I can infer it has something to do with having a corporeal body. With that protection ever so helpfully stripped by the little wyrmling in Dominique's pocket, he was free to run in and steal Tupsimati. Louisoix needed faith and aether for the trick he pulled, and this tablet provided the aether. Nabriales wanted to use all that Aether to bring about another Umbral Calamity.

The Chrysalis is a trial with a reputation to it, but I am pleased to say my group cleared in on the first go in spite of missing a level 3 Limit Break, apparently a key component of a common strategy to beating Nabriales back into spirit form. Back at the Rising Stones, we tried to execute the plan of Ascian obliteration, and almost succeeded. We just needed a little more aether... aether that Moenbryda provided with her ultimate sacrifice.

I cannot say this was unexpected. We were long overdue for a death in the family, and, as I said, she was throwing up a mighty number of death flags. It still stung, both Dominique and I. Urianger's sorrow struck me the hardest, to my surprise. I never cared much for him in spite of us sharing an overcomplicated approach to the common language, but the fact he was too grief-stricken to even attend a memorial service added a dimension to his character that pierced the heart. For Dominique's part, I think our Warrior of... something would like to take up some of the more scholarly arts in memory of this brave soul at some point. She was a nerd unafraid of the axe, and perhaps Dominique ought be an axe-bearer unafraid of the book.

All I know is that "Light of the Land" no longer seems so appropriate a title. I took it off Dominique as my last act before logging off.

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OPEN QUESTIONS

So many questions remain, and so few quests to tie them up in. It's about time we reopen this section.

WHO IS THE NEW ASCIAN? It was Nabriales. Emphatic emphasis on "was."
WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THE ECHO? Midgardsormr had that ball of energy going that we've seen with the immortals. Assuming this is similar to Ascian immortality and it in turn is similar to the echo... This has interesting implications. It also might be that the Blessing of the Light is separate from our own Echo, assuming that's the stuff responsible for the AoE markers.
WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF ISHGARD AND THE DRAGONS? The dragons, immortal as they are, remember some grave offence by the Ishgardians.
WHAT IS AN ASCIAN?
WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ASCIAN WHITE ROBES?
WHAT IS THE NATURE OF A PRIMAL?
WHAT IS ELIDIBUS' PLAN FOR MINFILIA?
WHAT IS THE NATURE OF MIDGARDSORMR'S COVENANT? What does it mean for us and how could the big dragon strip out our blessing like he did? Why did he resurrect as a wyrmling? Is this the draconic lifecycle? I can infer that this might have been used as energy to rejuvenate him, but even Nabriales was surprised he could pull this off...

CRACKPOT THEORIES

In Moenbryda's memory: theorising.

The Crystal Braves have been compromised by Teledji. One of our own just "happened" to shank a golden lead, and a new recruit at that. Some of the squads are getting a bunch of equipment from an overabundance of money. There has been talk of Syndicate involvement from the start...
Nothing is blocking Hydaelyn - she has just grown too weak from all the Ascians' plans. Perhaps the stripping of the protection was simply her offloading responsibility to the big man dragon?

As ever, eternal thanks for reading. I will link no socials. There be dragons.