#rhesh'a tag

[brineffxiv]

Aw hell.

Back up a bit.

So there we were, Venat and I, trying to enter Ktisis Hyperborea in order to track down Hermes, when who should we re-encounter...

Haha! It turns out that despite claiming to not believe my story, Emet-Selch has been (with Hythlodaeus' assistance) investigating the same things Venat and I have been. I am so happy about this. I was literally chanting "Yes yes yes!" When Hythlodaeus explained what they had been up to.

*Ahem*

We have uncovered similar facts and reached the same conclusion: since it seems unlikely that Hermes himself wants to bring about the Final Days, he may yet be recruited to help prevent them.

(ha... ha... in retrospect....)

And then Hythlodaeus laughs at him. I adore these two.

It's too late Emet! You've been contaminated with my friendship (highly contagious) now you'll never be rid of me! 12000+ years in the future you will care about me so much you'll plan for me to succeed after I kill you.

...oh no now I'm crying again...

Keep it together, you've got two whole posts to write to catch up with the plot. No way you're fitting this all in one.

Right. Right.

I find Hermes (and Meteion) in the depths of the Hungering Gardens and convince him to meet with our little group outside.

I tell him what I've told them.

Though reluctant to believe my tale, Hermes agrees to theorize based on his knowledge of dynamis. He concludes much as I have already suspected: that it is likely the varying densities of the people which produced the different effects in each Final Days - the warping of creation magics and the transformations of the people themselves.

But Hermes also points out something new: dynamis is itself only an energy, set in motion by emotion, which must have a source.

It would follow then, that this source... it must be a thinking being, in order to have emotions? Mustn't it? It's not a what. It's a who.

And as Hermes points out, the celestial currents form the outermost layers of the star. If the phenomena appeared first where those were weakest, then...

Someone out in the great expanse is trying to kill us.

Ah. But we have only a moment to reflect on this new horrific revelation, when...

Fuck. Oh, fuck. Hermes, you goddamn idiot.

But no, it's not a new "friend", it's Meteion's sisters reporting in. Meteion proceeds to "suspend" her individual consciousness and connect with the shared one.

Ah.

Oh. No.

Something has gone very very wrong.

Aaaaa!

Meteion is screaming inside my head, and only I can hear her. The rest can tell that something has happened, but they cannot see the truth of it.

And then, quite suddenly, she has disappeared.

Hermes explains that this is an ability Meteion has to avoid confrontation; she alters her aetheric density to blend in with her surroundings.

It's likely that I could hear Meteion's voice just then when the others couldn't because Meteion utilizes dynamis to speak in her mind and my comparatively thin aether left me susceptible to it. This means I'm the best chance we've got to track her down. We split up and search.

Danger music is playing! Danger music is playing! This is not a drill!

Several times I encounter Meteion or her voice and several times she runs away. Disappearing again. I glean from the brief snatches of dialogue that she is fighting her programming to compile and make her report. Something about the data her sisters have transmitted has frightened and upset her, and she does not want to present it to Hermes.

Our search party regroups to find a new plan; I will continue tracking Meteion via her voice, and Emet-Selch will follow, prepared to rain aether upon her to disrupt her vanishing trick. The rest of our party will work to blockade any avenues of escape, a task made easier in that it appears Meteion has fled towards Lethe.

Um. Lethe? The river of forgetting in the underworld? Can we uh... Can we not go into there? I have a bad feeling is all.

I am at once delighted and extremely distressed. The danger music is still playing loud and clear.

The plan works perfectly, for good or ill, and Meteion is cornered. Her voice in my mind begs me to protect everyone. She can no longer flee, and commences her report.

Everywhere Meteion has gone she has found the dead and the dying. Her dispassionate voice continues behind our mounting horror.

Emet-Selch points out the obvious problem in the mission Hermes tasked Meteion with: he did not account for a negative result. The premise of Hermes' question - what others live for, what gives their lives meaning - is flawed, if Meteion encounters only those who are dead or do not wish to live.

Venat orders Meteion to cease her report, suspend her mission, and return home. But Meteion is not listening. Emet-Selch determines to take Meteion back to Amaurot, as she will be needed in order to retrieve all of her sisters.

Hermes is still stunned from the revelation of both the answers to his questions and the astounding oversight in his instructions to Meteion. He kneels in front of her and seems about to acquiesce to Emet-Selch's demand, but...

Memories of Meteion and his promises to her fill Hermes' mind, and he resolves to accept the answers in her report, whatever they are.

Suddenly he transforms. Declaring that he will not allow Meteion to be taken from him until she has delivered her full report, he takes her in his arms and flies off towards Ktisis Hyperboreia.

We chase after them as quick as we can, but arriving at Ktisis we find a crowd of confused researchers outside. An alarum is sounding and the facility has been evacuated and put into a state of alert - a field of dampening magics is now in place effecting any who aren't Ktisis researchers.

Nonetheless, we must enter the facility.

OMG OMG OMG

(Of course Emet is a Dark Knight. He fights with love! In this essay I will...)

This dungeon is a downright delight. All the little bits of commentary and characterization!! HHHhhh!!!

Also I somehow managed to get Venat killed by double stacking a mechanic on her during Hermes' fight and Hythlodaeus res'd her. Hythlodaeus, my man, you are a Bard with a resurrection spell: you have got to stop saying how bad at everything you are because you are clearly not.

Yes, Hermes, you are indeed a mad, desperate fool, but you are a mad, desperate fool in serious need of therapy and someone to talk to. Your problems, to me, seem to stem from the fact that you feel so alone. Your compassion is hampered by the fact that you're entirely too caught up in your own head, and unfortunately, you do not seem to be much of an intellectual. You need friends, people you can share your thoughts and feelings with, and who you can bounce ideas off of so you don't send your emotionally fueled, vulnerable bird-daughter out into space with no means to shield herself from negative feelings. Bad idea, that. Also you need to calm the fuck down.

Together, we defeat Hermes, who returns to his humanoid form.

Emet-Selch declares he is taking both Meteion and Hermes into custody on behalf of the Convocation. As Emet moves to do so, Hermes turns to Meteion and apologizes to her, for being unable to hear out her full report. Hermes has just time enough to ask one final question of Meteion: was there happiness to be found in those stars?

Meteion's answer is long and features examples of failed civilizations that appear to hit close to home for each of our ancients. Those probably deserve closer examination, but that tangent got three paragraphs long before I realized there really wasn't time for it, because as she's giving us this answer Meteion is beginning to leak the black smoke that signals dynamis corruption.

A- Ah. AH. Oh. It's not. It's.

It's Meteion.

The thing out there that's trying to kill us.

It's Meteion. The Meteia. Her sisters.

They are the source of the emotions behind the Final Days.

And Hermes...

You. YOU. You...selfish monster. You bloody hypocrite!

"If man can learn to value all life and retain his will to live he will surely find a way to avert his demise"

It's not enough that you throw your precious creations at us to slow our advance through Ktisis, no, in making your judgement on man you in turn curse every life upon this star to share our fate. Or, have you not considered the method by which you sentence us!? Perhaps you are too distracted by your own despair to truly hear what she is saying: Meteion is bringing death to the star itself, not selectively killing off Man. You know this from my own account of what the Final Days will bring.

You're just like the rest of us; how cheap other lives become in the presence of Man, whether you seek to better us or to destroy us. I couldn't see, couldn't fathom, how you could be the Fandaniel I met in the future. But you've been him all along, haven't you? When push comes to shove you crumple under despair and it's not enough to take your own life, no, you'll make everyone suffer with you. Everyone must feel your pain.

Hermes causes the Final Days. In full knowledge of what he will bring, the pain and the suffering. He knows, and he chooses this. Unlike Meteion, who has become corrupted, unlike the Convocation, who will never know against what they struggle, Hermes stares evil in the face and embraces it. A mental breakdown will not absolve you Hermes, in this moment you damn yourself.

No. NO.

I forgot about that thing!

Hermes orders Kairos to rewrite the memories of all within Ktisis Hyperborea, beginning at the point of Emet-Selch's arrival in Elpis. Our memories are to be replaced with a vague recollection of Meteion and her sisters' shared consciousness becoming unstable and exploding, triggering Kairos.

Kairos begins counting down.

A lot of things happen, very quickly, all at once.

With his back to us, Hermes bids Meteion fly to the far edge of the universe where none can reach her.

Venat breaks her bonds and launches herself at Meteion, intent on stopping her, but Hermes blocks the blow and Meteion leaps into the air.

The break in Hermes' concentration appears to have freed the rest of us from our chains, and as Emet-Selch summons his weapon to challenge Hermes, Venat leaps aboard Argos in pursuit of Meteion. As the two shoot skyward, Hythlodaeus leads me to the edge of the platform. He tells me that here, this is their fight to wage, but that I must take the knowledge I have gained here back to my time, to my own battle.

Meteion is rapidly approaching the bounds of the star, with Venat in close pursuit. Just before Venat can catch her, Meteion shapeshifts into an actual bird (Hey! My friend has that minion! What!?) and speeds away into space, but not before Venat manages to tag her with a spell.

Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus sacrifice themselves to allow Venat and I to escape with our memories intact. Kairos completes its final process as we soar above their heads.

In the final few seconds left to us, Emet-Selch proclaims that he still doesn't believe my story, but, if it must be said, to not squander the legacy he leaves to me. In futility I reach for him, feeling the weight of our history falling into place.

Honestly, I could barely manage to take screencaps of this part I was crying so hard.

But I caught his smile.

...

Outside again, Venat collapses on the grass, exhausted both physically and mentally by what we've just been through.

The spell Venat tagged Meteion with is a tracking spell, one with which we can track her. Though she is already unimaginably distant and beyond our current reach.

Venat uses Argos to check on our friends, now exiting Ktisis Hyperborea, with Hermes in tow.

As expected, they have no memories of the events that Hermes contrived to have us forget, and Hermes himself appears devastated at the loss of Meteion.

Wait, what? No. No no no no! You've just seen, literally just seen, that even when Emet-Selch believes something to be completely ludicrous he will do his due diligence to investigate it. Tell him. Tell them, the Convocation. Even if they don't believe you at least let them know about dynamis, so they can recognize it when the Final Days begins! We cannot reach Meteion where she is now, but you have time. Time to work to stabilize the aether currents. Time to find an alternative solution so that when the Final Days arrive it's not necessary to summon Zodiark. Don't you start this again. This information control.

Leaving aside her asinine view that public knowledge of the contents of Meteion's report would lead to some sort of further catastrophe... Venat is against telling the Convocation the truth because of her fears of what Hermes would do if he learned the truth?? Venat, have you lost your mind? Hermes is one man. The only reason he was able to do what he already did was because we had the deck stacked against us, we confronted him in his seat of power with our own abilities severely limited. It was a very specific set of circumstances!! Outside of these exact conditions what he did would not have worked! Hermes' greatest weapon is our ignorance, that's why he contrived to have us forget in the first place. You are wasting the opportunity our friends sacrificed all to provide us with!

You already know the key thing that Hermes will contribute to resolving the coming crisis! The knowledge of celestial currents! Share this knowledge and you will have no need of him!!

It needn't be senseless and seemingly inevitable at all if you would bloody well tell people! Hope is so much stronger when built on a foundation of knowledge. We cannot stop the Final Days from coming, but you can yet mitigate it. All needn't be lost. You can yet choose to do something different. I beg you, use this time to find a different path.

Please Venat, please do not let your future become my past.

#ffxiv liveblog #rhesh'a tag #meteion #hermes #venat #hydaelyn #emet-selch #hythlodaeus #ktisis hyperborea #I struggled with this post for literal MONTHS #this one and the next #I'm still not happy with it #i should have split it into two so I could add more pictures #for one thing #but it needs to go

[brineffxiv]

We're having a nice chat back in Anagnorisis when suddenly we're interrupted by a researcher. A seasoned researcher, by his title. Apparently, something has happened with one of the creations. A "lykaon".

The lykaon has been indiscriminately slaughtering other creations with no provocation. It sounds like this has been an ongoing problem, and it has finally reached the point where the researcher in charge of them has concluded they need to be reverted. This news seems to distress Hermes, and he rushes off to the scene of the incident. We follow him.

No sooner do we arrive at the scene of the slaughtered okyupetes than Hermes is off again. Meteion and I catch up to him just as he himself finds Doros; the researcher in charge of the lykaons.

Doros appears to have done his due diligence in determining the fate of the lykaeons: they are unsuited to any environment and must be reverted. Nevertheless, Hermes wants to ensure all avenues have been explored. Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus will accompany him to this meeting.

Meanwhile, I get to babysit Meteion.

Which isn't a bad thing. I like Meteion.

That's a Deep Thought, little bird. You're touching on a debate we still deal with in the real world, and one for which there are no easy answers.

Meteion wants to find a flower for Hermes, to help cheer him up after what will surely be a fraught meeting. We consider several less than ideal candidates - including a morbol - before once again stumbling across Elpis flowers.

Hermes apparently has a complicated relationship to the Elpis flowers, as they reveal his internal pain to a world that can rarely empathize. When I tell Meteion that I, too, have seen the flowers dark she asks to borrow my pain. She wants me to turn the flowers dark in front of Hermes, to show him that he's not alone.

OOF. Oof, I say. Dear reader, forgive me for forgetting which of you told me to keep playing, because there was some plot I could relate to. You were right. Ouch, right in the heart.

That night, with the meeting concluded, we lure Hermes over to the Elpis flowers and I get to work thinking dark thoughts. Meteion tells Hermes he's not alone, and that others feel sad too. And, while Hermes seems to be a bit off balance at how much Meteion has told me, he takes off his mask and asks to speak with me for a time.

Oh wow, Hermes, you have lovely eyes. OMG all the ancients are so beautiful! Goddamn!

Hermes is greatly distressed by what he sees as callous disregard for the lives of the creations under his supervision; death may be embraced by man as a reward, but no other lives are afforded that privilege. "Lesser" lives are brought into being and ended at will, with little regard for the individual experiences of the creation in question.

Hang on.

Was I supposed to feel guilty about Hythlodaeus making me the robe out of butterflies?! Hermes would definitely not approve of that.

I mean... I'm a level 90 leatherworker, and I harvest most of my materials myself. I can recognize and understand what Hermes is feeling without... necessarily agreeing with him.

But then, I am reminded - of all things - of school, and being required to dissect frogs. And I thought it abhorrent that we bring these creatures to life for the sole purpose of killing them. "Education" was such a paltry excuse, when a simple diagram would fulfill the same purpose.

I think, in the real world, Hermes would be a vegetarian.

What painful irony; that which so troubles you now your future self... future incarnation. It seems unfair to call Amon Hermes' own self. But regardless, that man will delight in brining upon others that which you so abhor.

You're not alone Hermes. Please remember that.

I get the feeling you've never opened up to anyone about this before. I think if you had, you'd find that you are not as nearly alone here in Elpis as you may think. On both fronts; your respect for the lives of the beings you tend here, and your feelings of sadness. Several of the sidequests I've been doing have touched on similar themes - there was a woman who did not wish for her mentor to pass on, and a group where we preformed a remembrance ceremony for deceased creations, among others. I wish I'd known these themes would come up or I'd have taken screencaps.

To wind up our heart-to-heart, Hermes tells me a secret: Meteion is one of many. Her sisters are even as we speak making their way from star to star, searching for other worlds and the life upon them. Hermes wants to know what those other beings live for.

I am... a little bit unnerved by this revelation. Oh dear. Especially when, as we are walking away, Meteion turns and looks skyward, as though she hears something... Hermes... Has it occurred to you that not everything you find out there will necessarily be... good?

I mean, the people that created Omega are out there somewhere. And Omega was just one of their weapons.

DID ALIENS CAUSE THE FINAL DAYS!?!?

In the morning, Doros has had an accident with the lykaeons; he's managed to take out four of them, but three have escaped. Hythlodaeus and Emet-Selch quickly locate the escapees and the two of them leave to take care of the ones that are flying above Elpis. Hermes and I are left to deal with the one hiding in the fields. So we do.

It was perhaps a mistake to give these creatures the power of flight.

Hermes is not dealing well with what we've been forced to do.

Hermes... This job is killing you. The responsibilities you are required to take on, the duty you are to perform... You are ill suited for it. And it's tearing you to pieces.

Emet, I swear to Zodiark if you say something insensitive... Hermes is having a wee bit of an emotional breakdown and the last thing he needs is your brand of conversation.

Oh right. That's why you're here; to offer him a different job.

I misjudged you. My apologies.

This is... perhaps not the place for it, but, in contrast to Hermes' pain, I think I am understanding why your future self looks back on the world now as a paradise. Not just because of the reasons you gave in the phantom Amaurot beneath the Tempest: it's because you are happy here. You are fulfilled in your purpose and duty, surrounded by those you love and who love you. You have friends and companions aplenty, and you are lauded and respected for the work you do. You see all of the good that your world and your people embody. What more could a man ask for?

In contrast, Hermes is-- Wait. It cannot be a coincidence that my path has led me here, to this time and place. I am here because something that happens here is the key to understanding the Final Days.

Hermes is experiencing anguish over what he sees as the wrongs of his society. He hates what is happening, feels alone in his suffering, and he's been experimenting with dynamis; the energy fueled by emotions.

Something Hermes has done, is doing, or is about to do is the key to the final days. Did he cause it?? That seems almost unfathomable. That a man as compassionate as Hermes would willingly cause what is to occur. But. Perhaps by accident?

Well, now I wonder. Is there not some dark part of Hermes that wishes to meet the same suffering that so pains him onto those he sees as having carelessly inflicted it? Whether deserving or not, if dynamis is purely fueled by emotion, not requiring logic or intent, he wouldn't necessarily need to mean to enact that, provided the correct vehicle, would he?

Satisfaction would certainly be preferrable than the fate that waits for all three of these men. Far preferrable than the "orgy of pain and suffering" Fandaniel will seek to bring. Everything that lives must one day die, Hermes. We can only hope that while we live, we live well.

Hermes, I would argue that your unique perspective is a shining example of why you should represent your people. You are seeing an issue that no one else is, and you are being offered one of fourteen positions with the power to work towards alleviating it. You have the choice to stay here in Elpis, where you will continue to suffer in silence, or to move on to Amaurot where you can actually make change happen. Take the job.

After his outburst, Hermes begs time alone to gather his thoughts. Hythlodaeus guides Emet-Selch and myself back to the Twelve Wonders, for what I presume will be the next leg of our tour. Emet-Selch appears to be deep in thought after what Hermes said... He admits to understanding, on a rational level, the sadness that comes when someone returns to the star...

Oh no, oh Emet... I wish you never have to suffer what you do.

#ffxiv liveblog #rhesh'a tag #hermes #meteion #emet-selch #hythlodaeus #I did it! I did it! I made a post!! #even with a broken hand I did it! #sorry if this post is a bit all over the place #it took me a LONG time to write it

[brineffxiv]

Me, crying, sobbing: "He's so beautiful! My boy!"

#ffxiv liveblog #rhesh'a tag #dawntrail benchmark

[brineffxiv]

*screams incoherantly*

AAAAA!!!

He's here! He's here!!

How is he so pretty!? He's got the same face?!

*flails*

Oh, Emet-Selch, I missed you so much!

#ffxiv liveblog #rhesh'a tag #emet-selch #elpis #goddamn he's got beautiful eyes #be still my heart

[brineffxiv]

Hermes and I feed lightning sprites as we discuss the nature of life and of the soul.

I'll be the first to admit I don't entirely understand the explanation - I probably need to hear it a few more times - but as I understand it, the difference between an arcane entity and a living creature is the presence of a soul, and a soul cannot be granted, but rather forms in a creation that fulfills the necessary conditions to live independently?

He doesn't give me a straightforward answer when I ask what category Meteion falls into. Rather, he considers the question unimportant; he cares for Meteion as herself. That's very sweet and heartwarming.

Oh, look! An Elpis Flower!!

Hermes exposits that the flowers were a happy accident created by a past researcher of Elpis, and that though they change color to reflect the emotions of those around them, they are rarely seen in any hue save white.

...I think this is the first time I've ever seen them white.

Hermes explains that the flowers do this by means of an unseen energy driven by emotions. I describe akasa to him, and he agrees that it sounds alike, but names it something else...

Dun Dun DUN!

...hah. Hah. That's... That's the name of my Data Center... Dynamis... Oh. Oh dear.

So, Entelechies are entities that have the ability to interact with and convert dynamis into tangible phenomena - like the color change seen in the flowers. Meteion is also an entelechy. The first with free will.

Emet-Selch is perturbed that he's never heard of dynamis before, but Hermes explains that as dynamis can neither be seen or felt normally, nor be interacted with by beings comprised solely by aether - such as us - there are only a few scholars that know of it. Similar, it seems, to the present day.

Dynamis is a vastly weaker energy, but it comprises the majority of energy in creation as a whole? It sounds like this concept is similar to dark matter.

Uhh... Hermes, you're starting to give me some Fandaniel vibes. Me no like. Something involving dynamis is causing the Final Days, and here you are talking about wanting to empower this energy to a point where it can overpower aether. That, uh... That seems to be exactly what is happening.

I... do not believe you. That speech was entirely too impassioned for you to not care keenly about this. You might claim to have only created Meteion to have made a creation capable of traversing the great expanse, but I sense there's more to this story.

Meteion is comprised mostly of dynamis, which is why her aether is so thin. Hermes did this by necessity, as aether is relatively scarce in outer space. Meteion wants to know if I'm an entelechy too, since my aether is thin as well (no, it's because I'm 9/14ths of an ancient, I'm missing aether as opposed to having had it replaced with something else). I'm not, but Hermes claims that having thinner aether might allow me to interact and be interacted upon by dynamis more easily...

Oh. Oh no. That's why people are transforming into monsters in our Final Days; their aether is thin enough that the dynamis can affect them. Where the ancients were appropriately dense enough to be immune to that particular effect. Shiiiiit.

With those unsettling thoughts we move on to our next creation to visit; the charybdis.

There is a problem with this big blue charybdis; a third generation creature, it's aether is slightly too much aspected towards water and it cannot fly. The researcher minding them suggests that these creations be "reverted" (culled, I would guess) and their concept revised.

Hermes seems appalled at the idea, and insists that the creation can fly, but is simply afraid to, and proposes that he himself will transform and teach it to.

...And then the funniest thing in the world happens.

Pffft... Hghjlkdshsdk. HHHGLGKJSD

"Behold, a sorcerer of eld!"

Ahahaha!

You. Y-You never thought I'd find this out, did you!? Makes it all the better that you're the one telling me!

AHahaha! oh god I'm losing it hehehehe!

Transforming is apparently the ancient equivalent of stripping. Of walking around buck ass naked.

H. Hey wait. I read.

Where is it...?

...

...Guys, that is gay. That is really gay.

Never ceases to impress you, eh, Hythlodaeus? So that wasn't the first time Hades had transformed in front of you, then? Not even the second.

I can't believe that's canon.

Alright, okay, I'll stop.

...Talking about it, maybe. Not gonna stop thinking about it though...

(*laughing maniacally*)

Hythlodaeus is totally up to some mischief, and has Emet-Selch take the blue charybdis somewhere out of sight. He then informs us of his plan to have Emet-Selch teach the charybdis to fly, which he should be able to do with his prodigious magical prowess.

My job is going to be to ask him. lol.

Emet-Selch wants none of our shenanigans. Unfortunately for him, he's vulnerable to being asked persistently, just as Hythlodaeus promised he would be. He makes many delightfully exasperated and conflicted facial expressions I wish I had the room to include in this post. I am saving them all.

OMG it's Grani! omg I've been riding Emet-Selch's weird unicorn horse all this time!? (Emet-Selch, you have an... intriguing aesthetic sense)

Hythlodaeus and I get to take it easy and sit in the grass. While we're waiting, he tells me about Emet-Selch joining the Convocation.

The truth of it is that Hythlodaeus was actually the first choice for the office, but he turned it down because - in his own words - "I am pedestrian in all other aspects". I would disagree with this strenuously. Hythlodaeus, you might not be good at magic and manipulating aether, but you are a bright and shining soul. A light in the storm. A solid rock amidst the sea of chaotic life. You feel like home.

That said, I take his point. One must be able to act to resolve problems if one is to take a seat on the Convocation.

Hmm... I am having difficulty objectively analyzing this scene, lol, because by now I'm shipping these two something fierce. And, in the most non-romantic way I can manage, it's clear to me that Hythlodaeus loves Hades a great deal. He is proud of Hades' accomplishments, and that he is recognized for his deeds, even if Hades himself does not consider his own actions anything extraordinary.

And he loves me too. Well, ancient me. Azem.

The way Hythlodaeus tells it, Emet-Selch and Azem are the most important people to him in the world. He expresses his desire to one day return to the star with them, when all their purposes have been fulfilled. I think that's so lovely. And I think that says more than any speculation I can make; how much they mean to each other that they have planned their lives together. How wonderful, to love and be loved in return.

I only wish that I could help him have that.

I try to pretend I don't know what happens to them.

#ffxiv liveblog #rhesh'a tag #emet-selch #hythlodaeus #hermes #fandaniel #meteion #baseless speculation

[brineffxiv]

My new old friends and I continue our adventures through Elpis.

We're about to be eaten by a shark with legs when Venat drops out of goddamn nowhere and knocks the thing out. So fast I didn't even manage to capture the moment.

Hell of an entrance. I can certainly say I didn't expect to meet her like this.

Venat is apparently a former member of the Convocation who has eschewed the majority opinion and elected to remain and continue her work after retiring.

*Gaaaaaaassp!!*

Former Azem!? OMG.

Venat knows Hythlodaeus and Emet-Selch of course, and they all have a little exchanging of pleasantries, discuss the current Azem (Me! It's Past Me! AAA!), and generally make smalltalk. When suddenly Venat turns to me, and asks...

DANGER! DANGER! THE CAT IS OUT OF THE CLOSET BAG!

Fuuuuuu-

The question is met with shocked reactions from my two travelling companions. Venat explains how she reached this conclusion: She senses her own magic upon me - a traveler's ward, designed to prevent the corruption of aether - and knowing she has never met me she surmises that she must have woven the enchantment at some point in the future.

I confirm her suspicions.

Emet-Selch is taking this very seriously. He is not going to like what I have to tell him.

Venat offers her accommodations here in Elpis as a place we can go where I can tell them all my story. Venat seems to me a very lovely person. She's difficult to dislike, even if I may have some grievances with her future self.

At Poieten Oikos, Venat prepares us some tea, and the group settle in to hear my tale.

I really appreciate how this was done. The time it took for me to explain everything, and the shots of the characters shown throughout as they reacted to what I was presumably telling them. The way the mood progressed from curiosity and hope to solemn horror as each of my new friends were confronted with their fates and the future of the star.

(It made sense to me that Venat was shown specifically contrasted with her future as Hydaelyn, and Emet-Selch with the fate of the convocation as a whole, but it was especially interesting to me that Hythlodaeus was confronted with - and presumably effected the most by - Emet-Selch and his phantom Amaurot. Not his own future as a shade sacrificed to Zodiark, but that of his friend and the burden he would bear. Curious, and food for thought... bad shipper brain! Not time for that!)

I speak for a long time; until the tea has long grown cold. None of them take what I've told them particularly well, and all express doubts. Venat seems the one most inclined to credit my story as being true.

I am extremely pleased to see that she has several of the same critiques of her future self's actions as I do! Perhaps we will get along better than I expected!

Emet-Selch is not taking this well at all. Honestly, I don't blame him. He plays the role of villain in this tale, and not only is he fated to labor in grief and isolation for thousands of lifetimes, he is ultimately doomed to fail. He alone among the Convocation must carry the burdens of sanity, memory, and responsibility.

In defence of your future self; I do not think you abandoned your brethren or your duty. I think assisting me was simply a backup plan in the event that I killed you. As to why you would do something so seemingly illogical as to invite me to Amaurot in the depths of the Tempest? I think, despite it all, you desperately wanted the person you still saw as your old friend to understand you. What you were doing and why. Deep down you didn't want to kill me, but rather, you wanted me to agree with you, to convert to your side of things. As impossible as that eventuality might seem, you still had hope that we could see eye-to-eye. The friend who disagreed so strongly with your chosen course that he left the Convocation might yet return. Your people - those sundered and those imprisoned with Zodiark - might be made whole and restored to life. All could be as it was, and the world could be restored to the version you loved, when you were happy and whole.

So you invited me to Amaurot. A final attempt to force me to see what we'd lost. It wasn't about winning, or the most logical course of action; it was about a desperate hope to reclaim even the tiniest sliver of what you lost. A friendship, a connection. Pain and loneliness and grief and love were your motivations.

Emet-Selch speaks and plans logically, and rationalizes his actions in the moment. But in truth he is ruled by his emotions: he feels too strongly and too keenly. He loved so much that loss turned him into a monster.

Anyway, back to the preset, Emet-Selch storms out the door with Hythlodaeus running and calling after him.

Venat and I are left alone.

I am concerned, but Venat assures me that if Emet-Selch is truly the man Azem has led her to believe he is, we will see him again.

Fortunately, Venat seems inclined to help me. I tell her of what I've learned of Dynamis, and of Hermes' experiments with it regarding Meteion. We set about questioning the nearby researchers regarding Hermes and his activities.

Our inquiries are mostly unproductive until we chance upon a researcher whose partner once saw Hermes, late one night, sending multiple Meteia skyward. We decide to speak to the researcher personally to hear this story in full. We ascend to the skyway, and, while waiting to hear from the researcher herself, Venat and I get to talking.

Venat wants to know what the world in the future is like. She asks me to tell her about my adventures - the smaller details, as opposed to the world ending ones.

In turn, Venat tells me of her own history; she has been a scholar, one who sought to learn and discover the mysteries of the world. Through her work she feels perpetually in awe of the miracles of creation. She is the Ur adventurer; the desire to travel and learn and experience runs strong in her. And she loves fiercely all that she has come to know.

Her people are her meaning and her purpose, and they are why she cannot bring herself to return to the star. Not so long as she feels they still need her. She speculates that her future self as Hydaelyn is still waiting for a time when She can let go, confident that we can guide our own way.

Oh. That is a hell of a question.

And one I'm not given time to answer before the woman we are waiting for appears. But here...

I think it's obvious I love this game. I adore it. It's fantastic. I'm already planning to play it through again once I've finished.

But what of Rhesh'a? How does he feel?

I imagine he's still somewhat in shock. He hasn't had a moment to rest and breathe in a very long time. He's very good at compartmentalizing, bucking down and dealing with stress in emergency situations. But, now, he's approaching the end of his rope emotionally, and he's going to have a hellish reckoning to face when he finally has a chance to come to terms with all he's been through. I do not think his journey can be described in such simple terms as "good" or "bad". Worthwhile? This is his life. All he is, all he has and loves has come to him through this journey.

I will have to think on this more.

The researcher arrives! She regales us with the tale of the Meteia, shooting skywards like stars from a little isle not too far off. This must be what Hermes was talking about when he told me of Meteion's sisters, off exploring distant stars.

When the researcher had asked Hermes about his secret project, he'd told her that he needed to do more tests before answering any questions.

I am strongly suspecting that this project of Hermes' with the Meteia is related to the root cause of the Final Days, and it seems Venat agrees with me. We are going to go to the little isle to investigate some more, but I cannot yet fly in Elpis so we need some way to get me there...

Argos is less than amenable to me riding on him this time. Venat's solution is for me to fight her, and prove to Argos that I am worthy. She does not go easy on me.

Ouch.

Venat kicked my ass. This fight was not easy with a broken hand, I tell you. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

Yay! Argos likes me now!

Again.

...

Oh.

Oh no.

This dog. This fucking dog, man.

I'm sorry Argos, I'm sure you're the goodest of boys, it's just that you've suddenly become a symbol of everything about to go wrong for me. I tried. I tried so damn hard to ignore it, to put it aside, but my brain can't stop assembling the pieces of the puzzle. And the picture it's creating is upsetting.

Back up a bit. I've been keeping my eye out, and I'm certain I have yet to meet anyone who could be Elidibus. But this dog. Just made me think of something. Elidibus knew to send me into the past because he remembered meeting me here. Re-framed another way; the future I come from already exists as a result of me visiting the past. It's a closed time loop. In order for me to have travelled into the past, I must always have done so. The act of me travelling into the past itself does not create a change in the timeline because that act is a pre-condition to the existence of my own future.

All very well and good, but this dog.

This dog.

This dog knew me in the future.

Argos here had to learn to respect me before he would let me ride him. In the future I come from, my past, he liked me right away. The Watcher even remarked that it was strange for him to behave that way towards me.

But I'm the WoL: I'm used to being exceptional. Why would it be strange that the otherwise unapproachable dog liked me? I am Hydaelyn's specialest little boy, after all.

But here!

He doesn't! He fucking doesn't! I am NOT the exception to the rule!

Which can only mean, that when I encountered Argos on the moon, he was remembering me having earned his respect in the past.

Right now.

I always fought Venat in the past in order to earn Argos' respect. That's why he let me ride him.

Somehow. Incredibly. Horrifyingly. After all I have done. I have not managed to change the future. The timeline has not split. Despite Emet-Selch, Hythlodaeus, and Venat all knowing exactly what is coming... and the former two at least (if not all three) explicitly not knowing that in my future... this time still leads to mine.

While I'm having my little freak out crisis, Venat and I arrive on the little island with the pretty pink tree.

Venat informs me that there are two ways to view an event in the past with my abilities. The first is what I've always experienced with the Echo, the second is utilizing the ambient aether for the same purpose. While I still can't control the ability voluntarily, Venat will help me.

I am granted a vision of Hermes and Meteion, having just sent the other Meteia off on their journeys to other stars. Their missions are to seek other intelligent lifeforms on other stars, and inquire of them their conceptions of life and what they live for. In finding these answers Hermes hopes to bring enlightenment to the peoples of this star, and improve the quality of life for all beings, not just man.

Hermes promises to hold a celebration for Meteion upon her return, and gift her a beautiful flower. I wonder if this is why she wanted to in turn gift Hermes a flower?

Returning to myself, Venat and I agree that it does not seem likely that Hermes would cause the Final Days on purpose. But we cannot rule out an accidental cause, or an oversight. In light of this, Venat suggests we fill Hermes in on my story, and seek his expertise in the field of Dynamis on this matter.

That it would not. If there is anything that can be done to prevent Hermes from becoming the Fandaniel of my time, then I would do it.

#ffxiv liveblog #rhesh'a tag #emet-selch #hythlodaeus #venat #hydaelyn #hermes #meteion #argos #baseless speculation #thoughts on lore #slowly rising panic #horrors and terrors

[brineffxiv]

Message from the future...

...so I finished Elpis.

I am not okay.

I knew it was going to hurt. Didn't expect it to hurt that bad.

Goodbye gil.

Hmmm hmm hmmm...

Just gonna... cry a bit.

#ffxiv liveblog #rhesh'a tag #elpis #spending all my money on minions #why can't I have them both out at once #don't panic #I'm fine #Just Suffering TM

[brineffxiv]

I can't believe it. I think I'm still in shock. I'm in the past. The ancients' world. The world unsundered.

(accidentally left this picture in the last post when I cut it in half. Pretend I didn't do that please, XD)

Getting some fridge logic that modern peoples probably have the Ascians to thank for Aetherytes. Yes, we reverse-engineered the technology from the Allagans, but the ancients clearly have the same structures. Seems to me the logical middle step is that the Ascians assisted the Allagans in developing the technology.

...Anyway, that's not important right now...

Argos! And...

Venat? It must be. That's the only person I can think she could be. And it makes sense. She looks to have the same appearance as the form Hydaelyn took on the boat. Oh boy. I am filled with nervousness at the prospect of meeting her...

And finally, you must be Hermes. And... I don't have the slightest clue who the little bird person is.

I do not spy any likely candidates for Elidibus in this zone's preview, despite knowing I must meet him at some point. Hmmm...

You wouldn't believe me if I told you.

I don't even know if I want to tell you. I don't even know if I can.

How do I explain what you became? That I killed you? How do I tell you that you will soon lose everything dear to you in the entire world, spend over twelve thousand years fighting to restore a fraction of it, and ultimately fail?

Hythlodaus made me a robe out of butterflies! I am never taking this off. Aaaaa!

Hythlodaeus also advises that, if anyone asks, I tell them I'm Azem's familiar. What, uh, what exactly has ancient me been up to to earn this sort of reputation?

Yes, please, assume I have no common sense. I wish to know ALL the worldbuilding details.

We are searching for Hermes by appearance, which is a novelty! He apparently has short, dark hair. I see I was correct in assuming that's who he was in the preview.

Found him!

Hermes is working by some pools, with creatures that appear to be axolotls?

Oh! Um, hi?

You're adorable. Okay. I'll be your friend. You talk a bit funny, are you intended to be neurodivergent?

Oh neat! You can talk in my mind? That--

Wait. Hang on. I see that "Hear, Feel, Think" in there.

Suddenly you are ominous.

Hythlodaeus and Emet-Selch catch up with me, and the former makes introductions. Hythlodaeus already has a working relationship with Hermes through their jobs, though it has been some time since they have seen each other in person.

Hermes seems... apprehensive upon being introduced to a member of the Convocation.

Meteion's avid interest in me saves me from having to make my own introduction, and to explain why I'm here. I get to learn about her instead! She is a personal project of Hermes' that he hasn't submitted for approval yet. Her aether is really thin. Her name means "shooting star". All very important pieces of information, I am sure. I am watching this blue bird girl like a hawk. Ain't no way she's dropping the "hear, feel, think" line without being Significant.

The lads are here to have a Serious Business meeting with Hermes, but first he must put the ambystomas away. Unfortunately, one is missing.

Hythlodaeus may have found it... up a tree??

I must concur with Emet-Selch's bafflement. These things can climb?

Oh, my mistake, they can fly.

But, just because they can get up does not mean they can get down. Hermes runs off to rescue the creature, followed by Meteion. Followed by me. Hythlodaeus and Emet-Selch stay behind to watch the rest of the ambystomas, which Hermes seems to have forgotten in his haste.

...Hermes, are you okay?

Heh. Hehehe... I didn't. I certainly didn't expect the Fandaniel I know, but... I... This is so wholesome!

Ah... Elpis makes me happy.

Hermes falls out of the tree, but he's okay, and the ambystoma is rescued, so all's well that ends well!

Aww, thank you. I will!

.

.

.

Oh, that's nice.

Wait.

Ktisis?

Ktiseos.

I... Have a bad feeling about this.

#ffxiv liveblog #rhesh'a tag #hermes #meteion #emet-selch #hythlodaeus #argos #possibly venat? #baseless speculation

[brineffxiv]

So... This was a lie.

In the aftermath of Quintus' suicide, many of the people at Tertium - soldier and refugee alike - opt to relocate to Camp Broken Glass where they can partake of our food, warmth, and medical care. We are in the process of settling these refugees in and serving them supper. It is peaceful. Possibly the first moments of peace many of these people have known in a long time.

Jullus arrived with the final group of refugees, and... He's having a bit of a hard time. I think the kindness and camaraderie are getting to him. He's lost so much, and been under such strain, for so long. It's no wonder when he can finally relax he's going to pieces.

While reminiscing with Lucia and Maxima I notice the flower glowing a soft blue. Because of how thankful and content we are? It is a beautiful moment.

Ah, but of course, it cannot last. Shattering the peaceful silence, the radio in the command room crackles to life, and from it issues the voice of Emperor Varis.

From the Tower of Babil comes a mighty roar, and our warding scales flicker to life.

But lo! None of our newly arrived refugees have yet been given warding scales, and their tempering begins.

In the chaos, as we rush to restrain the tempered and distribute warding scales to those yet able to be saved, a soldier of the Maelstrom calls out to me. But he is not a solider. He is Fandaniel. And then I am gone.

I come to slowly, seated across a long table from Zenos, with the voice of Fandaiel in my ear.

...aaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

I don't think there are appropriate words for the sheer stomach-churning horror that was this moment.

Well, Zenos, this definitely takes the cake for the most uncomfortable date I've ever been on. Kudos.

Fandaniel's incessant chatter contrasted with Zenos' ominous silence is possibly just as unnerving as waking up in a borrowed body. The tension is building, and I dread when it breaks.

Suddenly, a roar, and there it is. The primal is near. We're in the Tower of Babil, then.

...excuse me, "Daddy?" Is Varis not quite dead after all?

Oh, but it is much worse than that. Varis is quite dead, but his corpse, animated by the desperate "prayers" of the people of Garlemald - for salvation, for safety, for a return to the days of old - is what has become the primal.

AAA! Holy FUCK.

Holy goddamn fuck!

Incidentally, I was right about the towers. They're part of the primal and siphoning aether back to the... main... body... Oh, eew, they've all got pieces of Varis' corpse inside them, don't they?? That's why there was a man's limb inside the core of the Tower of Zot?

Finally, Zenos speaks, and he is...

I could almost read his previous silence, not as a deliberate tactic to unnerve me, but as hesitation while he sorted out how to pitch the idea to me. After all, Fandaniel has already confessed that this entire plan was his own idea: Zenos probably didn't have the opportunity to think up his speech in advance.

Zenos is talking like he's trying to convince me to sleep with him. Like we had a grand one-night-stand and he's trying to persuade me to "re-conquer" him.

Which does highlight the problem with Zenos' assessment of the situation: he's got such a skewed understanding of emotional motivation that he's only capable of parsing it in terms of the negative. He sees himself as a conquest - either in battle or in bed - that he must persuade me to experience again, by tempting me with unrealized potential. When, if we were actually the "friends" he professes us to be, we could engage in... whatever it is he wants to engage in... for the sheer enjoyment of the activity.

And so, he would cause untold pain and suffering, that he would become an irresistible target for my attention and my ire.

He has mistaken me though; I am not angry, I am only sad. Aghast, horrified by what he has done... but I feel I understand him too much to hate him as he desires. My enemy. My friend.

And so, you will now do something "worse." Won't you?

He wants me to experience, as he did, fighting in another's body.

Get out of my body Zenos!

Not what I thought he meant when I surmised he wanted inside me.

Gee, thanks, Fandaniel.

You're a dick, Fandaniel.

Thus commenced the most nerve wracking, emotionally fraught, paradigm shifting....

Goddamn. "In From the Cold" is Art. That's all I can call it. It's a work of art, and it must be experienced - in context - to be truly appreciated. I am positive every one of you who has played the game knows exactly what I'm talking about. It was HARD too. It took me two tries to get through it. Holy shit though, holy shit...

Fuck. I am not okay.

Back at camp, my friends have managed to get a handle on the situation with the tempered and are preparing to send out search parties to look for me. They realize they timing of my disappearance is suspicious and are aware the two are likely connected, but don't have enough information to connect the dots.

When suddenly, who should come walking up the path but me.

I take some small satisfaction that my Black Mage glam forced Zenos to walk across the breadth of Garlemald in 2B heels. That's what happens when you kidnap someone for a date, Zenos. Serves you right.

Ooo! I get a good look at Zenos' avatar. Cool.

I made it just in time. Able to save G'raha and Alisaie by throwing my sword through the avatar just as it was about to slice into them.

I launch myself at Zenos!Me. But I collapse to the ground as whatever spell-thing Fandaniel did to move my soul out of my body hits its limit. I am incapacitated as my soul starts to return to my body.

Fandaniel reveals his master plan!

All that we have encountered since arriving in Garlemald has been by design. Tempered soldiers, refugees, he's even behind the missing ceruleum in Tertium! All planned to delay us just enough for Anima to siphon enough aether to awaken Zodiark! And somehow make the Final Days happen!? I'm not 100% clear how that's going to work, but Fandaniel would know, I suppose.

Ah, Zenos, you horrible, deranged, sexy man. Unf. Be evil at me some more.

But my friends are here! They are here for me! They love me! They are unharmed, and now it is time to storm the Tower of Babil. Which is good. Because I hit the max image limit on this post and had to take out several good jokes, if I do say so myself. Time to start a new post.

#ffxiv liveblog #rhesh'a tag #jullus pyr norbanus #fandaniel #zenos yae galvus #zenos my friend my enemy #in from the cold #baseless speculation

[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.

#ffxiv liveblog #rhesh'a tag #zodiark #hydaelyn #fandaniel #zenos yae galvus #zenos my friend my enemy #the watcher #y'shtola rhul #thancred waters #thoughts on lore #baseless speculation #long post is long

[brineffxiv]

I returned to the first. I said hi to many of my friends and acquaintances. I filled Ryne in on what's been happening.

...And now I have to see if any part of Elidibus' soul is still in the Crystal Tower, and if it is, if he will help me.

I didn't only kill him, after all: I killed his friends. I made sure their millennia-long labor to resurrect their people ended in failure. I destroyed their last hope.

And now he's mine.

The memories of my friends are with me

Man, Shadowbringers was a fantastic expansion. I haven't even finished Endwalker and I'm already looking forward to replaying it.

Oh thank goodness; he's still here. I don't know what we'd do if he was gone.

He was sleeping, but I woke him up. The smallest of my crimes.

I tell Elidibus all that has transpired, and, to my surprise, he agrees to help me. Not for my sake, no, but because this was done by Fandaniel, he, as Elidibus, sees it as his duty to repair.

I am once again struck by how... honorable doesn't seem like quite the right word. Perhaps integrity? What I am trying to say, is that I would not have blamed Elidibus if he told me to go fuck myself. The dedication to their duty the Ascians held (save, of course, Fandaniel): it humbles me. I have a great respect for such consistent service to their people.

Elidibus tells me what little knowledge he has been granted by the constellation crystals. A pity that the one Ascian there is to ask is the one with memory problems.

It was Fandaniel himself - the original, unsundered version - who discovered the connection regarding the celestial aether currents, and dedicated himself to finding a solution. Without his knowledge, the Convocation would not have been able to do what they did to save the star.

Elidibus' claim that the Fandaniel of the past was very different from the incarnation of the present jives with Fandaniel's own assumption that the man he was would weep to see what he had become.

Aha! Elpis the place! Tell me, what was it? Where do I go to find what's left of it?

Apparently, Elpis was a testing facility for the ancients' creations; determining which ones were fit to be released into the wider world. More intriguingly, and in what cannot be a coincidence, the man who would become Fandaniel was chief of the place. When he was known as Hermes.

(I see the pattern with the names. The Convocation's true names are all those of Greek deities. Hades, Athena, Gaia, and now Hermes. What's yours, Elidibus?)

Unfortunately, that is all Elidibus knows, as the crystals tell little of the Convocation's lives prior to taking their seats.

Wha-? But, I know it's a place I go to. How...?

Eh!?

Something about this moment has triggered a memory for Elidibus. Impossibly, he seems to remember meeting me, in the past, in Elpis.

H... How?

Apparently, Elidibus has gleaned how the tower works from the Exarch's memories, and now, fueled by his own empowered essence, he is willing to send me into the past. If I am willing to trust him to do it.

The distance to be traversed is so great that I will be invisible, inaudible, and intangible. But even worse...

Even should I manage to interact with anyone I will be unable to change the future to which I must return. This tracks with what I know of G'raha's own jaunt through time, and the continued existence of the reality he left. I have no option of escaping the Final Days via changing the past, just as G'raha's changing of the past did not erase the future he came from. This is probably a good thing? I would be petrified of accidentally wiping my friends from the face of existence otherwise.

Sending me to the past will consume every last mote of Elidibus' essence. This will be his final act. I pray he finds the peace he longs for in it, and that there is some place where he will be reunited with those he lost. For all the evil he and his brethren brought into the world, they have lived their own hell all this time. I would not begrudge them this reprieve.

Elidbus' final thoughts are to Hydaelyn, now the last of the ancients. I... hadn't thought of Her in such terms before. My thoughts are somber, and apprehensive, as I step into the past.

Oh my. I am indeed a shadow of myself.

Oh my god I am in the past. And there are ancients. Real, living, ancients! I had forgotten how absolutely massive they were. Wow.

I run around and try my best to catch anyone's attention, or interact with anything at all. It is as Elidibus said it would be: I am entirely intangible.

While I am fighting with the door I can't manage to open, two more ancients appear via the atheryte-like device behind me.

And then I took three days to find a way to write out this sequence that wasn't simply pure screaming in joy. Know that behind every sensible comment is a continuous "aaaaaaaaa!"

I will admit, I did not recognize him from the brief glimpse I got prior to fighting Zodiark.

This was the precise moment I realized who these two must be, and proceeded to lose my entire goddamn mind.

It is not possible to render in text the sound I made. I missed him so much and they gave him back to me! I am going to cry of happiness!

Goddamn, Emet-Selch, you have gorgeous eyes.

Every time he looks into the camera my heart skips a beat.

Hythlodaeus was right when he said you had a handsome face, too.

Sir, I desire you carnally.

Hythlodaeus himself is also painfully pretty.

This game just keeps giving me deliciously beautiful men.

I took approximately 9000 screencaps during this reveal sequence.

Omg omg they can see me. They can see souls. They can see me. (lol at Emet pretending he can't)

Hythlodaus thinks I might be Azem's familiar.

Emet-Selch doesn't know what I am, only that I'm bad news and they should ignore me.

Hhhhhh! Stop looking at me like that! Please keep looking at me like that!

Oh damn, they can't hear me though. Blessing and a curse? I have no idea what I would say to them if they could hear me.

Oh? You can do that?

The grumpiest man in the world.

You've got him wrapped around your finger, don't you?

Self: do not ship them. Not allowed. They are both already dead. Horribly. There is no happy ending possible here. You know how it ends. The game is trying to lure you into a false sense of security by having them be all cute together. Down this road lies only madness. Do. NOT. Ship. Them.

I'm solid again! Yay! Emet-Selch even made me the right size!

Hythlodaeus introduces himself and Emet-Selch to me, and I, in turn introduce myself to them.

But then my new old friend wants to know where I came from: he can tell from my strange aetheric composition that I wasn't created here. I'm not sure if I even should explain, much less how I'd go about starting to, "You see, I'm from the future..." Elidibus said I cannot change the past... But...

Thankfully, Hythlodaeus senses I am having a difficult time with that question and asks me a different one, what am I doing here?

Turns out that our purposes are the same! What fortune! As an apology for assuming I was Azem's familiar, Hythlodaeus offers to serve as my guide as well.

Predictably, Emet-Selch is not happy about this. But, Hythlodaeus points out that it's better to keep me close by if he thinks I'm up to something.

And with that, we pass through the doors and into Elpis...

(Had to cut this post in two. Too many pictures, lol)

I can't believe it. I think I'm still in shock. I'm in the past. The ancients' world. The world unsundered.

Catch me sobbing because it's all so beautiful here and it's all going to be destroyed.

I'm doing little quests from the ancients here, and all I can think about is how they're all just people. They're the same as the people I know in my time. Oh god. I think I'm going to be sick. This is what I felt upon seeing Amaurot, but worse. Because they're alive. Fuck. Amaurot exists out there somewhere, filled with people, living and thriving. That shining, beautiful city... What did Elidibus say? He said I can't change my future... I am tied to what I came from... But can I change theirs...? Can I do for them what G'raha did for me?

This is a game. I can't effect what the game does. But I want to save them. I want to save them so dearly.

#ffxiv liveblog #rhesh'a tag #elidibus #emet-selch #hythlodaeus #thoughts on lore #fangirling #thirst

[brineffxiv]

Nice place you've got here, shame if some Final Days were to happen to it.

Emet-Selch uninvites me from the group. They are having a Serious Business meeting, you see, and the collar bell I insist on wearing detracts from the atmosphere.

In all seriousness, he's being quite sensible. I am a strange something that has appeared from nowhere and seems to possess a piece of the soul of his good friend, who, from all I've heard, happens to be chaos incarnate. Emet is powerful enough that he's got no reason to fear me, but he knows I'm up to something. And that something will probably be trouble for him. Though, I imagine he expects shenanigans, not the end of the world.

Hermes wants me to stay, he trusts me because Meteion trusts me. And he's afraid he'll lose his composure without a third party present. Oh dear. I wonder what he expects they're going to talk about?

(Psst! Hey, Meteion! You're allowed to sit down, there's extra chairs!)

Ah. It seems I have arrived in the past during the event in which Hermes joined the Convocation as Fandaniel. The previous Fandaniel is stepping down and has nominated his friend to be his successor. The Convocation is giving this nomination due consideration, and Emet-Selch, as someone who does not know Hermes personally, is here to give his impartial assessment.

Hermes claims to be honored to have been nominated, but he is visibly distressed to know the why of it...?

Ah... I thought so. It's a euphemism. I thought I remembered a similar phrase... either from earlier in the game or from one of the stories.

Hythlodaeus' explanation of returning to the star sounds so lovely. Imagining a world where death is planned, and only occurs when you feel you have reached fulfillment. Voluntarily. To see such a choice as a privilege and an honor, a celebration of a life well lived. That truly is beautiful.

Perhaps, "Return to the Star" isn't so much a euphemism as it is... an elaboration? After all, they know what happens when they die, Hythlodaeus can see it himself.

At the same time... I find it difficult to shake the memory of what will happen to them. To everyone. For half their people, Hythlodaeus included, there will be no return to the star. Not for an unfathomably long time. Death will acquire a new meaning.

Again I am impressed by the selflessness and dedication with which the Ascians... no. The Convocation. With which the Convocation treat their duties. And, Emet-Selch at least seems glad for it. I imagine he is a good leader for his people.

I can understand why you're sad, Hermes. The current Fandaniel is a friend and, it sounds like, a former mentor to you. It's alright to be upset, and to mourn.

That said, it's not your place to choose the boundaries of someone else's life. You are seeing only the loss, when it sounds like your friend likely sees death as his reward at the end of a long and fruitful life. You don't get to take that from him, just so that he can provide more.

But I don't know if what you're saying is actually what you're feeling. I wonder if you might be having a problem grappling with the topic of death itself. It seems to be culturally a positive thing, but you clearly have negative feelings regarding it...

Hermes being upset has made Meteion upset, and he asks me to take her outside for a change of scenery.

The bird returns!?!?

Or, since this is the past... the bird debuts??

Meteion says she hasn't seen this bird before. Suspicious! I think this is humorous as opposed to plot relevant, but only time will tell...

Regardless, Meteion wants to show me her power, and is going to demonstrate on the shoebill. But she can't for some reason, so she tries on me instead.

That's neat! It's sort of like how the Echo works to help me understand all languages? I wonder if it's the same principle.

Meteion struggles to speak aloud because of her abilities, it sounds like it's the overabundance of stimuli that she's taking in that causes it? That's fascinating, it is sort-of like a neurodivergence.

Meteion likes me because I have things in common with her? "Us"? With familiars? Or, with her and Hermes? Hmm...

She promises not to use her abilities to read my mind, which is a relief, because OH DEAR there are some things in my head that this sweet little bird shouldn't have to know.

I will totally be your friend, Meteion. You can be my bestie right alongside Zenos....

WHAT!? Hermes, how could you?! Eating good food is one of life's greatest pleasures.

Meteion and I return to the rest of our little group. Hermes has requested time to consider the Convocation's invitation (much to Emet-Selch's displeasure) so we are going to observe him doing his job around Elpis. How fun!

.

.

.

I FOUND THE LESBIANS!!!

#ffxiv liveblog #rhesh'a tag #emet-selch #hythlodaeus #hermes #fandaniel #meteion #baseless speculation

[brineffxiv]

Note to self: put something here when your head stops spinning

Ah, now that makes sense. I had wondered how you planned to ensure that the restored populace had your old culture, but it seems that you're simply going to replace the populace entirely. Humor me for a second though; once all the worlds are rejoined, won't the people of the Source essentially be your people again? Lacking the memories, albeit, but if I understand correctly, we have the same souls as the ancients of your time.

Listen, Emet-Selch, I have seen your city; I have met your people. I have met your people as you remember them. Do you truly believe that they would want to be brought back that way?

What does one say in the face of the judgement of the eternal? I do not doubt that Emet-Selch lived, experienced, and evaluated as he claims. And I do not doubt that we fell short of his expectations.

The problem is that Emet-Selch is not an impartial judge, despite what he claims. He's overwhelmingly biased and clearly still grieving everything and everyone he's lost, and has carried that with him for millennia.

I imagine he tried, genuinely, to find worth in us, but was so caught up in his grief that he was unable to see it.

You're not wrong. Most wouldn't. And the few that would would be the best of us, the least worthy of death.

The thing is, Emet-Selch is not wrong about any of this. People can be flawed, horrible, and brutal. All these things are true. But whether from trauma, or grief, or whatever reason, he's dismissed all the good in us, and conveniently overlooks any of the negatives of the ancients.

I do not believe that the ancients were as perfect as Emet-Selch describes them, remembers them: he himself proves that. And he's not an anomaly. All of the Ascians became monsters: Emet is arguably the kindest one we've met, and he's personally responsible for more atrocities than I can reasonably list. If the unsundered Ascians became what they are, then that potential lay in all of the ancients, just as it does in the modern peoples. They were not intrinsically perfect.

But all that is irrelevant, because this isn't about logic. As Emet-Selch puts it, yes, we "refuse to see reason." It doesn't matter whether the world used to be perfect or not, we are here now, regardless of how broken we are in his eyes.

We're fighting for the same thing in the end, for ourselves and those we love to live.

Uh-oh, I think we've made him mad.

I just want to appreciate how cool that looked. When the doors swung open unto a wall of flames.

No wave as he's walking away. No more performance. Nothing to be performative about. This is serious, deadly serious. And Emet-Selch is very tired.

Oh goodness this dungeon was horrifying. And awesome. The fire, the monsters, the falling buildings! It hurt my heart after seeing Emet-Selch's memory of Amaurot, talking to it's people. To know that this is what befell them.

Stop moving the goalposts, Emet! Great line though. Got to remember to use this cap as a reaction every time I'm mildly displeased by something.

Alisaie is so goddamn badass. All my friends are badass, but Alisaie jumping up and throwing herself into battle against the strongest opponent any of us have ever faced is just... beautiful.

And then Ardbert became part of me and stopped me from becoming a lightwarden. Which begs the question, how the hell did Hydaelyn know he was going to be needed to do that... can she see the future?

But that's a question for another post...

It's me! The ancient me!

I don't know how the Exarch got here, but boy am I glad he did. Now I've got all the backup I need to take on Emet-Selch properly.

Speaking of...

Now that is a hell of a thematic name. Hades, lord of the underworld. FF is pretty loose with its naming conventions, but I can't imagine they chose that one for Emet-Selch without at least a few good reasons. I will enjoy considering the implications.

Ah, I should have guessed he'd have a super-powered form.

And isn't that a somber title for a Trial. Is this the dying gasp of a man who's all but dead already? Or does it belong to the hope that the Ascians had for their plans for rejoining? Perhaps both...

Oh.

I think that's the first time we've seen his mask. At least, I'm assuming that's his mask.

That was a very excellent fight. And sad. And disconcerting. When Emet-Selch stabbed himself in the chest to kill off his body and take his second form... wow. Metal as fuck.

Yeah, that's what I thought. The phantom Amaurot, the shades of people, even this fight... you're drowning in your own emotions and grief.

My friends are here to help me!

To my eternal regret I was unable to capture a good photo of Ardbert's axe, and this cutscene is too emotionally fraught for me to re-watch just yet.

*sobbing uncontrollably*

He did everything for his people. Gave all of himself for their cause. And in death he thinks only of them, and their remembrance. He was their hero; their final hope, and this is the bitterest victory.

Goodbye Hades, I will miss you.

.

.

.

G'raha, I wish the game would let me give you a hug.

And everyone is gathered to welcome us home.

#ffxiv liveblog #rhesh'a tag #emet-selch #ardbert #crystal exarch #g'raha tia #this post took me two days to write #for many reasons #not the least of which because my computer crashed and I had to start over again #but OOF the emotions #baseless speculation #thoughts on lore #shadowbringers

[brineffxiv]

In Radz-at-Han, Vrtra (via Varshahn) is preparing to make his grand announcement.

I can feel his fear and trepidation; no less than this great calamity could have prompted him to reveal his secret, so afraid was he of his people rejecting him.

It will be alright. They will see how much you care for them.

It is a lovely speech. His people do not yet know him, but they will. And they are willing to extend the same trust to him that he extends to them in this moment. Together, they will get through this.

That it would have. I hope that wherever she is now - the aetherial sea, or perhaps reborn? - that she knows where the path she started us down has led us.

Oh great. These fuckers again.

To his credit, Fourchenault recovers quickly when he discovers he's going to have to negotiate policy with a Great Wyrm. He quickly and succinctly gives a brief explanation of the Final Days, and what the Forum has been planning.

...I am both surprised and relieved. It's clear I need to reassess my view of Sharlayan; I was convinced that, being so insular, they would only seek to rescue their own people. Fourchenault has risen in my estimation. Marginally.

Vrtra will meet and discuss the details of this plan of evacuation with the Forum members in Meghaduta. I am heartened to learn that the decision will ultimately be up to the individuals to decide; Vrtra truly is a good leader.

Nidhana has caught up with us: she has a theory to share!

Y'know, I asked that exact question when Y'shtola first said they didn't have any aether. Without it, how do they exist at all?

Nidhana's theory, then, is based on the fact that strong negative emotions trigger the transformation. She posits that akasa is the alternate energy that the beasts are animated by.

That... would make sense. Because my flower seems to be influenced by the same force, and...

Aaaand it just exploded into black dust.

Well, if akasa is the force behind the flower's color-changing effect, then I think it's safe to say that there's something really fucked up influencing our surroundings right now.

*narrows eyes*

...Didn't Hydaelyn say that the flower would guide me? Or something to that effect?

That seems to imply... That Hydaelyn knows akasa is the force behind the Final Days. That She knew all the way back in Labyrinthos.

Why...

Okay, this doesn't make any sense. Because She may be incredibly frustrating, but She's not evil. ...Is She? That doesn't make sense either. She made the Loporrits out of love for us. She gave us a backup plan. If She knows what's causing the Final Days, why would She let us run about in circles trying to figure the answer out?? She must know about the akasa connection, because literally the only thing the flower does is react to it. Why else give it to me??

Is this like the Forum? Like. She literally can't tell me? But why? What rule could possibly constrain a being like Her?

This is... Really fucking fishy. I don't like this. I have a really bad feeling.

Yeah. And now I don't even have the flower to guide me.

Oh look I suddenly have a million (five) quests to distract me, better go do them...

Sadly the only classes I have at 90 are Sage and Paladin, so those are the only ones I can complete. Everything else I can only do up to level 87.

But, I did notice something curious while completing the Healer quest?

Fordola clearly sees the soul of Charlet, the man who became the blasphemy, walk off to join those of their deceased friends... According to everything Y'shtola said, this should not be possible? There should be nothing left of his soul? And yet there is. I am leery of getting my hopes up, but maybe the souls of those changed are not completely destroyed after all?

A mystery...

Anyway. I have a dinner to attend.

We have to remember, what we saw in Amaurot was end-stage. It is what is coming, but we still have time to stop it. Before things get that bad.

And now we understand why half the star was willing to give up their lives to summon Zodiark, don't we?

No, Y'shtola, you've got that backwards. Zodiark stopped the Final Days. Hydaelyn was the one who sundered everything in the process of subduing Him.

But, that's besides the point. Hydaelyn won't - I'm starting to suspect can't - tell us anything more. We're going to have to find our way from here without Her.

This is why I need to stop solving all my problems with murder.

What.

...But it might. There might be some fragment of his soul still in the Crystal Tower. Well, goddamn.

And so, I will go to the First. Y'shtola will seek to contact Hydaelyn in the aetherial sea. Alphinaud will rendezvous with the various world leaders and ascertain how far the Final Days are progressing. Estinien will--

????

Emet-Selch?

Are you...?

Hooooly Shit.

You can see me. You're not just narrating: you're watching me.

...And you know something I don't.

#ffxiv liveblog #rhesh'a tag #varshahn #vrtra #estinien varlineau #alphinaud leveilleur #fourchenault leveilleur #nidhana #hydaelyn #thancred waters #y'shtola rhul #g'raha tia #emet-selch #baseless speculation #thoughts on lore

[brineffxiv]

Did I spend entirely too much money on this minion?

Yes. Yes, I did. Okay I also got a soundtrack with it, that's true.

#ffxiv #ffxiv liveblog #rhesh'a tag #hydaelyn #hydaelyn idol #not liveblog #bday presents to myself

[brineffxiv]

We have been invited to a meeting of representatives of all the Alliance nations and the beast tribes.

(Wow, I wish the game would give me a better word to use, feels like a slur to call them "beasts". Also, though I realize them being 3d models would make this difficult, they should really be offered a seat at the table - literally - to make this feel like we actually respect them as equals. Having them stand at one end feels... not right.)

And the meeting is fine and dandy, and we agree to form The Grand Company of Eorzea, and Kan-E-Senna asks Alphinaud to write up a report covering his experiences with the Crystal Braves and and and none of that matters because THIS BASTARD showed up!!

I have slain gods who had committed lesser crimes than the words you just said to your children.

I don't care about the Final Days anymore; Zenos and Fandaniel can go bring about the end of the world and dance in the ashes for all I care. THIS bastard is my new target. I will make you eat those words Fourchenault Leveilleur. You should be ashamed of yourself, and as Hydaelyn is my witness I will make sure you are.

*mutters darkly*

You have a clearer head than I, G'raha, I don't remember what he said besides his being an insufferable git. If the Forum wanted to distract me, that was a masterful way to do it. I'm still fuming.

Oh dear. Looks like Fandaniel is leading a force to Carteneau. I wonder if Zenos will be accompanying him?

But before we can leave on the airship, Fordola meets us and insists we must come with her.

Oh Arenvald, I am so sorry. Is it your legs or your back? I'm sorry. How rude of me. I am glad to see you alive.

Arenvald can fight no longer, so he looks to Alphinaud to carry on where he cannot. Alphinaud doesn't feel like much of a hero, nor is he sure that he is the right person for the job, but Arenvald gives him a pep-talk and we go.

Arenvald is obviously feeling very depressed about the loss he's suffered, but I am glad he has Fordola there for support (Ship it? Ship it). And I am glad it seems that, while he might no longer be able to wield a sword, he's not out of the fight just yet. I am... potentially hopeful we might see some good disability representation through him? It's already refreshing to see the idea that being disabled makes you useless so clearly and strongly rebutted.

Aaaaaaa! Who are you making me fight as this time!?

Okay but I want those little figures. Please. Let me buy the whole set and put them on my desk.

We gotta defend the aetheric confluence. This was painful. I am unskilled with these fights. Especially the one where I had to be Urianger. PAIN.

(Fuck yes Ravana. My favorite primal!)

Please no, Fandaniel. I don't need another homoerotic violence friendship. There is only room in my heart for one muderboyfriend.

We won the day, and, while we could not save them all, we saved some. And that will have to be enough.

I think this is hope.

Yesss thank you game for appreciating my desire to make that man pay.

Omg omg is that a scythe!? Is Zenos a Reaper now? Haha sweet.

Um. What's that spiky edifice behind you there? Also, I just noticed there appear to be ruins of buildings everywhere?

Oh yeah. That's gotta be the main tower that Thancred and Urianger espied in Garlemald. Or the final boss' lair. Possibly both. Spooky fucking thing, regardless.

Opposite of hope?

Ooooo!

I kinda adore you, Zenos. You crazy bastard. I think you've fallen for me and don't know what to do with that, so express it the way you express everything else: violence!

We have assessed the aetheric currents, and determined that the towers are being fueled by drawing upon the lands' aether directly. We must inform our allies of this.

But then...

Hydaelyn?

Hydaelyn!?!? After all this time, what brings you to speak with me? To send an avatar of yourself here?

Oh shit. That's not good. Can you be a little more specific?

Oh dear.

Aaand nobody else saw the glowing lady.

Oooh and now the spooky moon is over us too.

And with that. I believe I have reached the end of Shadowbringers. The greatest expansion so far. I don't feel prepared to sum up an experience as profound as this was. Fantastic game. I am eager to get playing Endwalker.

#ffxiv liveblog #rhesh'a tag #kan-e-senna #alphinaud leveilleur #fourchenault leveilleur #g'raha tia #fandaniel #fordola rem lupis #arenvald lentinus #zenos yae galvus #zenos my friend my enemy #hydaelyn #baseless speculation