A series of blog posts that asks the questions no one else dares to ask, such as "How come they're called dungeons when only like two or three of them were ever used as prisons?"<<Previous | Next >>——————————————————————————————————————————————
You know, Crystal Braves, it's not the betrayal that upset me. Okay, I lie. You will fall to the ground choking on bile for it. However, what
truly upset me was the incompetence.
Were I a paramilitary organisation freshly purged of dissenters with more money than the Twelve, I would just kill General Raubahn. Get him out of the prison, blast him with magic from a safe distance to be safe, and you're done. But no. Your excuse for a leader decided that the best course of action was to drag him to Halatali and then encase him in a magical shield for later execution.
Why?Dominique had to assume that the blueberry bunch
wanted a breakout and was more than happy to provide. Not alone, but with Alphinaud and Yugiri. Not that the pathetic gang left when you cut away all the competence from the brat's dreams put up a challenge that required these numbers. The greed-driven Yuyuhase tried to stop us with poison. Really? We have slain dragons and you think some spicy air can stop us? None of you are paid enough to fight like this. There was also Laurentius. Laurentius. Dominique gave you a chance, and now were given none. And Ilberd? Just another lazy opportunist who justifies atrocities with cynicism mistaken for wit. You three were lucky that we were too busy dragging out the 3.4 tonze of Raubahn to chase you down like the cockroaches you are. Worry not. We will be back with the fumigators soon enough.
The aftermath of this clown show left us with an invite to Waking Sands, right from Urianger. I had expected an Ascian ambush, but was instead ambushed by one of the Syndicate Lalafell. I'd quip about the Ascians being preferrable, but alas, the game had to ruin my attempts at comedy with a touching scene of Rauhbahn reuniting with his son. Oh, and we learned the Sultana lives. I knew as much, but now Dominique could catch up. Alas once more, we could not continue down this story path, for matters had entered the domain of diplomacy and curt nods can only go so far there. Plus the dragons kiiinda decided to try and destroy Ishgard again so, uh, toodles?
Turns out that Nidhogg had more dragons in the tank. The attack had not yet come; it was just foreseen in the stars, which provide more than navigationional aid and lofty dreams in the realm of Eorzea. Perhaps inspired by our adventures in Ul'dah, Alphinaud had an idea that didn't fulfill the masculine urge to die in a heroic last stand: more diplomacy! We had an inroad with Lady Iceheart, we just lacked Lady Iceheart. Conspiring with the heretics is heresy in and of itself to the Ishgardians, of course, but as we had established mere quests ago, Dominique is immune to the law thanks to the "Trial by Combat" glitch. So, off we went to the frozen wastelands to look for one pallid Elezen with a budding crisis of conscience. Dominique, Alphinaud, and Estinien.
Wait, Estinien?
I would not have expected Ishgard's very own DragonMurderator 3000 to be down for a plan that ideally minimises the amount of dragon murder, but he had rudely eavesdropped on a conversation in the middle of a public street and invited himself into our party. Dominique didn't mind on account of experience teaching our hero that the path of least resistance still involves a lot of resistance. Several quests later, we set a yak's hide ablaze to make purple smoke, and by doing so, we met with lady Iceheart once more. I assure you that this makes sense in context.
The Artist Formerly Known as Ysayle was now once more known as Ysayle. She relayed to us the tale of how Saint Shiva getting vored by Hraesvelgr made peace between Elezen and Dragon by means of Echo-assisted vision. This also makes sense in context. To hear her say it, a bunch of Elezen jealous of draconic immortality then broke the peace and stole a bunch of dragons' eyes, including Nidhogg's. To hear Estinien say it... he doesn't disagree, he just points out that Nidhogg no longer cares about his lost eye and just wants Ishgard to burn.
This got me scratching my head a bit. If Estinien truly did not "doubt [Ysayle's] vision of the past", why did he never bring it up before? Why continue his pursuit of Dragooning all over the palce? There are too many answers here for there to be a simple question. Maybe Estinien didn't quite know the full tale? Maybe he thought his ancestors were justified? Maybe he was afraid of retribution? Maybe he just thought the sins of the ancestors did not beget the sins of the present? Maybe I should just get on to Chocobo forest and continue this dang story which will probably explain a lot of this?
Not before some diversions. I mentioned earlier that I wanted to learn of the full tale of the Conjurer Edda once I saw her skulking in the Palace of the Dead. The part I knew thus far was that she was in an adventuring party and that one of her party members, Avere, died before we cleared out the Tam-Tara Deepcroft. The part I should have know was that Liavinne of the Scions was previously part of that party and also loved Avere. She was one of the poor souls butchered by Livia. The part that we learned today is that she now had a wedding invite for Paiyo, the other survivor of the party. A wedding to Avere.
Can you blame a woman for being broken by the death of her betrothed? No, but grave robbing, non-consensual necromancy, and the creation of a hard mode dungeon are separate criminal charges. Our matchmade party came in dressed for a red wedding and made Paiyo the last survivor of that misbegotten adventuring group... until Palace of the Dead, but time and space seem to get twisted as you go deep into Hydaelyn and fifty floors is pretty deep, so the tense here is rightfully uncertain. There was a sweet touch in the leadup quest where we discovered Liavinne's open, desecrated grave. I might have forgotten her, but Dominique did not. Unprompted, our hero took a moment to kneel and pay respects before we moved on.
There is one last matter worth mentioning. Dominique is not privy to this, but by the powers of cutscene, we are. The Archbishop spoke in private to one of his Heaven's Ward, Zephirin. On one hand, he spoke of deceiving the Ascians. On the other, he spoke of rewarding his Ascian allies. On the third, freakish hand, he spoke with undignified bloodlust of the dragons and the knight Zephirin spoke with an booming, offscreen voice...
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OPEN QUESTIONSThe question of the open grave was quickly closed. These ones still gape.
WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THE ECHO?
WHAT IS AN ASCIAN?
WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ASCIAN WHITE ROBES?
WHAT IS ELIDIBUS' PLAN FOR MINFILIA?
WHAT IS THE NATURE OF A PRIMAL?
WHAT IS THE NATURE OF MIDGARDSORMR'S COVENANT? When Ysayle finished her Echo trick, one of the crystals of light got defogged!
Midge Midgardsormr blames Hydaelyn.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OTHER SCIONS? I had expected some answers by now, but they remain offscreen. I know at least two of them have survived!
CRACKPOT THEORIES"Sober theorising" just doesn't have the same marketability.
The Ascian plot in Ishgard is to weaponise the mythic past of the Ishgardians into the creation of new primals. The Heaven's Guard is embodying the twelve knights, wittingly or not, like Ysayle did with Shiva. Assuming that is what happened with Zephrin, the pope's on a path to become king Thordan the Original.
The Shiva situation with primals requires the host to walk in the original's footsteps. My brain might be too poisoned by Elder Scrolls lore, but I think I might be onto something here. Let me elucidate. Let us assume that the fantasy pope and his twelve knights have, indeed, managed to embody the original king and his own knights via primalisation. We also have the curious case of Ysayle and Shiva. In both these cases, the new "hosts" are taking a similar role in life to the primal they embody, the former being the leader of Ishgard and his personal guard, the latter being an Ishgardian Elezen renowned as a dragon-friend. My thesis is that a human being, given enough faith and aether (as usual) can act as a summoning host for a primal and in doing so take some measure of control over the primal's actions.
This could be a powerful tool (and a powerful asset for the Ascians) but it's hardly a flawless theory. There is a third case here, that being Louisoix and the Phoenix. They could be an exception that ruins the theory... but what if a different Phoenix lived long before and Louisoix unwittingly walked in its footsteps and incarnated it? He did also dissolve into the aether after all was said and done, so his case might be a separate one entirely. I am sure that there is something here.
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Good! You got here! Thank you by not getting spooked by all the text. Alphinaud got spooked by a bear during one of the quests we had while chasing Ysayle, and I think all this nonsense is more frightening than a bear, so feel free to brag about being braver than the brat! I will link no socials. I have just now become embroiled in an ugly internet feud with bears.
