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beraxiv · 1 year

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Masters of the Hand and Land

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dragons-bones · 2 years

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FFXIV Write Entry #3: Augers and Alloys

Prompt: temper || Master Post || On AO3

Ivar chattered excitedly in her ear as she crossed the Aftcastle, dangling from her shoulder with his back paws braced against her lower back. Synnove hummed in acknowledgment every now and then, absorbed in reading the reports she carried as she walked and thus only half-listening to her excited firebug.

Mama, left!

She stepped to her left, narrowly avoiding a gawking tourist, and resumed her course to Naldiq & Vymelli’s, closing her report folio and tucking it under the opposite arm from her ruby carbuncle.

The bridge linking the main spire of Limsa Lominsa’s premier shipwrights with the rest of the city was thick with a crowd, mostly adventurers: clients purchasing weapons and gear or students at the guilds. The chaos was mostly organized, with signs and apprentices directing visitors either further up or down the main spire, or to one of the causeways leading to a secondary spire. Synnove was both expected and a regular, and she and Ivar were waved towards the causeway that would take them to the research and development area.

H’naanza herself met them, a fierce grin on her face, and her forge goggles pushed up to the top of her head to reveal her glittering eyes. Synnove arched an eyebrow, even as Ivar on her shoulder began to vibrate from barely-contained excitement.

“You’re usually off tutoring the would-be armorers,” the arcanist drawled, “not minding the R&D mavens. What the hells have you lot cooked up?”

“Better to show you,” the older woman purred, and Synnove’s eyebrows arched even higher up her forehead as she followed H’naanza into the spire.

It wasn’t often she had the opportunity to be on the receiving end of another guild’s bout of mad genius.

The metallurgists of Naldiq & Vymelli’s were the finest in Eorzea, bar none, and Synnove was comfortable saying they could likely outdo Sharlayan and Far Eastern ones, too. (Biased? Perhaps. But she at least frequently saw their products put into regular use throughout the Maelstrom navies and La Noscean settlements and Ironworks production lines, instead of kept hidden away from prying foreign eyes.) The lab she was led into could be a twin to one in the Arcanists’ Guild with the blueprints and equations tacked to the walls or on slate chalkboards, save for the presence of a small forge, currently cold and closed up, at the far end of the room.

What was odd was that all the desks and shelves had been shoved off to the sides of the room, and a large sheet of some metal Synnove didn’t recognize clamped securely to the far wall.

Mimidoa Nanadoa waved to her excitedly, and Ivar dropped off her shoulder with a crackling chatter to bound over to the grizzled lalafell. The man gave her firebug a good face scratch with both hands. “Hullo, me explodey lad!” he said to Ivar. “We’ve got some proper delights for ye and yer ma today.”

Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy! Ivar chittered, tippy-tapping his feet in a fast rhythm.

As Synnove came up to the table Mimidoa was standing next to, she glanced down, and blinked. “Mimidoa,” she said slowly, “how in the seven swiving hells did you get a hold of one of Stephanivien’s aetheromatic augers?”

“Poker game,” the blacksmith said with a shite-eating grin.

“And you didn’t invite me?!”

“Now, now,” H’naanza said. “That’s a story for another time.” The miqo’te clapped her hands together. “Synnove, one of our recent projects has been developing a new alloy that doesn’t just protect against ceruleum and magical blasts, but actively nullifies them.”

Synnove tilted her thoughtfully as she mulled that over. That would be a hell of a game changer, not just in terms of military applications but safety ones, too; she could immediately think of multiple areas back in her guild such material would be useful. “Similar to the gilding the Garleans used to put on their magitek reapers?” she said.

“Bah!” Mimidoa spat. “That shite’s just flat trash. It chips, and the integrity o’ the protection is ruined. Hideously expensive, too, and even that thin a coatin’ o’ gold is bloody heavy. No, this is lightweight and durable, and cheaper to produce than to mine and process gold.”

“Of course, we’re still exploring how to make mass production more viable,” H’naanza said, crossing her arms. “The hardening and tempering process is very precise. But before we get to that…”

“A demonstration,” her lalafell compatriot said, rubbing his hands together.

For all the shite everyone gave her about her own pyromaniac tendencies, Synnove was a stickler for safety protocols, and she eyed the aetheromatic auger with trepidation as Mimidoa first put on a pair of welding goggles and then picked the auger up. “Please tell me you’ve already tried firing that thing in here.”

“We have already tried and succeeded in firing it in here,” Mimidoa said primly, sharpening his diction in mockery of her precise arcanist’s clip. She kicked at him half-heartedly, and he dodged out of the way and a bark of a laugh.

“Eyes!” the lalafell said cheerfully, and Synnove took out a pair of goggles from her hip pouch and quickly donned them as H’naanza pulled her own back down onto her face. Ivar hopped up onto the table for a better view, so excited now that he was visibly vibrating.

Mimidoa settled the auger on his shoulder, aiming through the site as he depressed the trigger to begin charging. The familiar hum of an aetheromatic auger charging up filled the room, and in a few more seconds, it fired, streaking across the room to hit the metal sample on the wall—

—and it splashed off the large plate, the condensed aether puddling into something vaguely liquid on the floor beneath it before dissipating. There wasn’t a single scratch on the plate that she could see.

Synnove stared. Ivar stopped vibrating, instead now sitting eerily still with ears pricked completely upright.

Mama, can I try that? he said, swiveling his head around to look at her.

She kept staring forward as she replied, “Absolutely not, not until I’m one hundred percent you’ll be able to remanifest.”

Awww…

The arcanist stalked forward, examining the sample plate with her nose barely a half-ilm away from the surface. The metal was, indeed, completely unblemished, and running her hands over it, she couldn’t feel any dents or unusual heat or cold, though she would need Tyr and his earth aether sensitivity to test the internal integrity further. Synnove, wide-eyed and feeling the mania of a good research binge hovering at the edge of her mind, whirled on her heel to stare at H’naanza and Mimidoa. The armorer and the blacksmith wore matching mad grins.

“I’m assuming you want me to throw some good old-fashioned Warrior of Light influence around with the Admiral to get more funding for this,” Synnove said.

“Yes,” said H’naanza with a nod.

“Shameless.”

“Utterly,” Mimidoa cackled.

“Count me in.”

H’naanza and Mimidoa exchange a low five.

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#ffxivwrite2022 #final fantasy xiv #ffxiv #oc: synnove greywolfe #synnove's carbuncles #h'naanza esi #mimidoa nanadoa #dt's writing

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joiedecombat · 1 year

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Of all the classes Raine's taken for all the jobs she has, who was the best teacher and who was the worst? Who was her favourite if neither of those.

Even narrowing it down to just the people whose official job it was to teach Raine things, it's hard to point to a single "best." For the purpose of this answer, I'm going with the ones from whom Raine learned the most valuable lessons, above and beyond the skills they set out to teach her - things she's continued to apply not only to one specific field, but in her many adventures since.

I'm also breaking it down between both the teachers of combat skills, and the ones who taught tradecraft.

With that in mind...

Among the leaders of Eorzea's fieldcraft and tradecraft guilds, H'naanza doesn't stand out as an especially colorful character. She has her shit together and she stays in her lane, focused on training capable armorsmiths and maintaining Naldiq & Vymelli's reputation for quality goods.

Most importantly, H'naanza has no tolerance for needless elitism. She recognizes that skill is learned with persistent effort, not based on inborn natural talent granted only to a select few. Raine learned a lot about professionalism from H'nanzaa, and a few important lessons about not letting perfectionism get in her way.

Speaking of colorful characters, though... Honestly, Severian barely had the inclination to teach Raine all that much about alchemy, so it's a good thing she had at least some basic education in the field before she came to Eorzea.

However, the great project that occupied Severian's attention over teaching happened to come to fruition while Raine was still struggling to cope with the tragedy at the Vault. The timing meant that Raine was forced to confront some home truths about loss and letting go. It wasn't at all a comfortable or pleasant experience, but it helped her come to terms with some things and it taught her a lesson she's carried with her since.

As far as tradecraft goes, Redolent Rose is probably Raine's favorite of her many guildmasters and teachers. Textile work was a chore she didn't particularly enjoy - mostly because as the only girl among her siblings, she was the only one expected to devote time to sewing and needlework while her brothers got to be outside doing more interesting things - and working with Rose helped Raine put aside her childhood grudge and recognize what a vital skill it really is. The two of them share a belief about the importance appearances can play in social interactions, and get along quite well.

No few of her tradecraft guildmasters emphasized the importance of listening to the client and understanding their needs. From Rose and their shared travails with Wawarukka, Raine also learned that sometimes the client doesn't know what they want, and often has no idea at all what they need.

Among the people who've taught her combat skills, Musosai holds a special place. The old man who set Raine on the path of the samurai taught her to take decisive action to confront injustice and stop evil, rather than hold back dithering over whether or not it's her place to step in. He also taught her to be ready to forgive, and to offer second chances when the wrongdoer seems sincere in their remorse and their crimes unlikely to be repeated.

Most importantly, Musosai taught Raine to hold herself accountable to the same standards of justice she applies to those around her, both for her own actions and the wider impact those actions have. And, at the last, he affirmed and reinforced the difficult lessons she had to learn about letting go.

I've talked before about Ywain and Raine's time with the Lancer's Guild in Gridania, but here he is again. Raine has lingering misgivings about how Ywain handled matters with Folques and the way that whole business played out... but the fact remains that the training she received from Ywain and the Guild has informed her fighting and adventuring style ever since, no matter what weapon she has in her hand.

From Ywain, Raine learned the importance of keeping a calm head and maintaining self-control under pressure. She also learned the difference between true courage, which sets aside fear in the face of danger in order to confront it calmly, and empty bravado which seeks to deny that the danger exists.

For the worst teacher that she's had, Raine can only have one possible answer: Solkzagyl. Fuck that guy. If there's anyone Raine would fistfight in a Denny's parking lot, it's him.

She found his treatment of poor Constaint reprehensible, and if he'd been the only example she'd had from which to learn how to be a paladin, she'd have hung up the sword and shield ages ago. If she never sees his face again, it'll be too soon.

As far as an overall favorite teacher, there's likewise no contest: X'rhun Tia remains the mentor Raine feels the closest connection with, and considers a particularly valuable friend. Though they haven't been teacher and student for some time, she's always enjoyed his company and looks forward to seeing him again and hearing what he's been up to since they last spoke.

#ffxiv #oc: raine d'arcy #h'naanza esi #severian lyctor #redolent rose #musosai #ywain deepwell #solkzagyl keltnaglsyn #x'rhun tia

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dante-heller · 2 years

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