The Award-Winning Heavensward Expansion(tm)! Lets Play Final Fantasy XIV!

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Sanguinia: Jan 1, 2012; ~Everybody wants to be a cat~
~Because a cat's the only cat~
~Who knows where its at~

My name is Sanguinia, and I'm a WoW Refugee. In June 2021, between the disturbing revelations regarding Activision-Blizzard's abusive office culture and peak frustration with the World of Warcraft's design and the story, I reached a breaking point with a hobby I've enjoyed for over 15 years. Like many WoW players, I spent weeks leading up to that moment having a sensible chuckle at the MMORPG Community's favorite meme:

I had tried FFXIV several years ago and bounced off before level 30. Recently, the hype around the upcoming Endwalker expansion drew my attention back to the game. "The culmination of a ten-year epic," everyone claimed. With that promise came assurances that revisions had been made to the early game, which might help me get past the initial hump. With my gaming calendar suddenly wide open, I opted to give the thing another chance.

While waiting for my downloads and installations to go through, I decided, more or less on a whim, to post my reactions as I went along in what I called "Newbie Journals." I figured they would be enjoyable content for anyone who stumbled on them until I got bored of either the game or taking time to write about it. Within a week, A Realm Reborn had its claws in me. As I began to invest more into playing, I also unexpectedly felt compelled to invest more into those journals, and soon, they were describing every thought and reaction the game elicited from me, good and bad. Before I realized what had happened, a little side activity to indulge after my sessions had ballooned into a de facto Let's Play.

When I completed my journey through the base game's content, the next step was to begin Heavensward, the first expansion. During that transition, I decided to formally upgrade my writing efforts from a casual journal to this more fully realized work.

And now you know... the rest of the story.

My Twitter: https://twitter.com/SanguiniaLP - For news, updates, and random tidbits related to the LP such as collectibles and achievements, go here.

My Kofi: https://ko-fi.com/sanguinequest - To share my work with people not on SA without waiting for archival, or if you want to leave me a tip out of appreciation, go here.

Inspired by the work of content creator SFDebris on his Star Wars: The Old Republic Campaign Reviews, this is meant to be an exploration of Final Fantasy XIV as both a video game and a work of fantasy fiction. Rather than exactly recreating the dialogue line-by-line or posting copious screenshots to capture every moment, I will use an essay-style format and more carefully chosen images to convey both the story and my experience as a fresh audience member. This project is one part screenshot LP, one part fantasy novel Let's Read, one part blog, and one part game review. My goal is to condense, analyze, criticize, and provide commentary as I explore as many aspects of the game as possible.

The LP also has a narrative element. I try to note distinctions between my feelings and how the game conveys those of my Warrior of Light as a character. Of course, as any fan of the game can tell you, there are times when that line can get a little blurry. How you choose to take your character through the available content, in what order, what dialogue options they choose, and how those influence the player's understanding of their character's expressions and actions during cutscenes all contribute to a true emergent narrative that is a far more prominent part of FFXIV than I ever could have guessed as an outsider.

I attempt to make those aspects a part of this text. What feels 'right' for my character to do at any given time will be a driving force in this LP.

This LP is intended to be an academic endeavor, which means I value the contribution of the commentators. Even if they disagree with me, have radically different interpretations of the text, or think I got a fact flatly wrong, I want to hear from them and have that discussion. However, I also do not want spoilers for this highly story-driven game. To that end, I have set the following rules.

1) No Spoilers for in-game content beyond the current update. You can get hype and post all the popcorn emotes you want if I'm getting close to something you're excited about. But I don't want to know anything that hasn't happened yet. I don't want to know when or if a character will return, places I might go, creatures or people I might meet when I get there, or anything else in advance. I don't care if the information was part of promo material, Patch Trailers, or Patch Notes. I am isolating myself from those things as best as possible because I want to experience the text fresh. Be patient.

Along these same lines, this story often contains deliberate misdirection, red herrings, incomplete information that gets reexamined over time, and intentional ambiguity. I welcome the discourse if you think I got something wrong or disagree with a conclusion I've reached, but that chatter must be within the limits of the content I've seen. If you're unsure because you haven't done these quests in almost a decade, double-check the text at The Gamer Escape Wiki or just restrain yourself until we reach the end of a particular thread of the story.

2) Discussion of Supplementary Materials like Art Books, Short Stories, Dev Interviews, etc., is permitted but must wait until I've seen the relevant in-game content. One of my biggest frustrations with WoW in recent years was the absolute necessity of outside information and secondary sources to understand the plot. I came into FFXIV knowing nothing, and as I go forward, I want to know only what the game tells me. The story should stand on its own merits, so I want to minimize the influence of external materials on my reading of that text.

Under this umbrella, I have only limited knowledge about the Final Fantasy franchise. If something in the game is a reference to another game, exercise caution about when or how you talk about that.

3) Discussion of Final Fantasy 14 1.0 content is permitted. The only exception to this (obviously) is if that 1.0 information will somehow spoil future plot points, but that should be common sense.

4) The Catch-All Spoiler Rule: If you have any doubt that you're making a comment you shouldn't be, just put it in spoiler tags. Then it's my call whether to check it, and I'll have nobody to blame but myself. In conjunction with this, if the thread devolves into a CIA Document because of exchanges of big chunks of spoiler text, it's time to take the conversation elsewhere.

Finally, the only Non-Spoiler Rule:

5) Be Respectful to Each Other. As I said, this is supposed to be an academic endeavor, so I encourage debate about the story in the comments with each other and me. However, I don't want to be constantly calling in Mods to break up arguments. If someone says something you don't agree with, either discuss it civilly or don't discuss it at all.

If you think someone is violating these rules, please do not get into a lengthy argument about it. Either briefly say something in the thread or via PM or report the offending post.

Introduction: The Story Thus Far...
Chapter 0: Betrayed by Loyal Hands, Her Wrath Stirred (Opening Cinematic)
Chapter 1: Fortunate Son (Ishgard + Sea of Clouds 50)
Chapter 2: Beware the Frozen Heart (Western Coerthas 50)
Chapter 3: Are You Tired of Being Nice? (Dark Knight Introduction)
Chapter 4: Dragoon 201 with Professor Kilrau (Dragoon 50-52, Ishgard 50)
Chapter 5: Dead Man Walkin' (Ul'dah 51)
Chapter 6: You Know My Name (Dark Knight 30-50)
Chapter 7: Old Buddy, Old Pal (Ishgard 51)
Chapter 8: Idiots Can't Catch Colds (Western Coerthas 51)
Chapter 9: Or Another Bug Hunt? (Dravanian Forelands 52)
Chapter 10: Dragons Are People Too! (Dravanian Forelands 53)
Chapter 11: Goods and Services (Dravanian Forelands + Churning Mists 54, Vath Introduction)
Chapter 12: The NeverEnding Story (Churning Mists 54)
Chapter 13: Pirates vs Ninjas (Ninja 50-56)
Chapter 14: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (Ul'dah 54)
Chapter 15: How to Train (to Slay) Your Dragon (Dragoon 54-56, Machinist Introduction)
Chapter 16: Woke Up This Mornin', Got Myself A Gun (Machinist 30-50)
Chapter 17: This Is War (Churning Mists + Ishgard 55-56)
Chapter 18: Good Guys Wear Black (Ishgard 56, Sea of Clouds 52, Dark Knight 50-52)
Chapter 19: Shattered Shields (Ishgard 56-57, Dark Knight 54-56)
Chapter 20: Direction, Or Lack Thereof (Ishgard + Western Coerthas 56-57)
Chapter 21: Bullet Club 4 Life (Machinist 50-58)
Chapter 22: The Enemy Within (Dragoon 58, Dark Knight 58)
Chapter 23: Iron Chef Eorzea (Culinarian 1-50, Fishing 1-15)
Chapter 24: Its Not Easy Being Green (Botanist 1-50)
Chapter 25: A Study In Ultramarine (Hildibrand 2.3)
Chapter 26: A Study In Ultramarine, Part Deux: Criminals Create, Detectives Critique (Hildibrand 2.3)
Chapter 27: You Meddling Kids!//In Another Castle (Doman Kids Sidequest, Ninja 58)
Chapter 28: There's Always a Bigger Fish (Fishing 15-50)
Chapter 29: The Heavensward Holiday Special (Starlight Celebration 2021, Heavensturn 2022)
Chapter 30: Bird is the Word (Sea of Clouds 57, Vanu Vanu Introduction)
Chapter 31: If Anyone Says "At Least It Can't Get Any Worse," I'm Going To Stab Them (Sea of Clouds 57)
Chapter 32: Search and Rescue (Dravanian Forelands 57)
Chapter 33: Freedom Ain't Free (Dravanian Hinterlands 58)
Chapter 34: A Uniquely Portable Magic (Dravanian Hinterlands 58-59)
Chapter 35: The Woman In Fight (Hildibrand 2.4)
Chapter 36: One Truth Prevails (Hildibrand 2.5)
Chapter 37: The Twofold Way of Pen and Sword (Relic Weapon - Zodiac, Paladin 50-56)
Chapter 38: Understanding is a Three-Edged Sword (Paladin 58-60, Relic Weapon - Zodiac)
Chapter 39: Call of Duty (Ninja 60, Machinist 60)
Chapter 40: Love is All You Need (Dragoon 60, Dark Knight 60)
Chapter 41: Reforged (Relic Weapon - Zodiac)
Chapter 42: The Last Snow of Winter (Azys Lla 59)
Chapter 43: We Do What We Must Because We Can (Azys Lla 59-60)
Chapter 44: Long Live The King (Azys Lla 60)
Chapter 45: Peace In Our Time (Ishgard + Azys Lla 60)

Chapter 46: Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (Patch 3.1 MSQ)
Chapter 47: A House Divided (Patch 3.1 MSQ)
Chapter 48: Simple Geometry (Arcanist 1-30)
Chapter 49: A Gentleman and a Scholar (Scholar 30-50)
Chapter 50: Dirty Work (Custom Deliveries: Zhloe, Mining 50-60)
Chapter 51: So God Made a Farmer (Botanist 50-60, Custom Deliveries: Zhloe)
Chapter 52: I Once Caught a Fish THIIIIIIIS Big! (Fishing 50-60, Nepto Dragon Sidequest)
Chapter 53: Working Hard or Hardly Working? (Goldsmith 50-60, Culinarian 50-60)
Chapter 54: BEHOLD, THE WIZARD (Thaumaturge 1-30)
Chapter 55: Got a Black Magic Woman (Black Mage 30-50)
Chapter 56: I've Seen Fire and I've Seen Rain (Patch 3.2 MSQ, Extreme Trial, Warring Triad Series)
Chapter 57: But I Always Thought That I'd See You Again (Patch 3.2 MSQ, Hard Mode Dungeons)
Chapter 58: Slings and Arrows (Patch 3.2 MSQ)
Chapter 59: What is Worth Fighting For? (Patch 3.2 MSQ, Hard Mode Dungeons)
Chapter 60: The Stage of History (Patch 3.2 MSQ)
Chapter 61: I Speak For The Trees (Conjurer 1-30)
Chapter 62: The White Wizard Approaches (White Mage 30-50)
Chapter 63: Can We Fix It? (Churning Mists 54-55, Moogle Introduction)
Chapter 64: Wherever You Go, There You Are (All Saint's Wake & Valentiones' Day 2022, Zodiac Kettle Sidequest, Custom Deliveries: Zhloe, Treasure Hunting, World Boss)
Chapter 65: No Man's Sky (HW Alliance Raid 1, Hard Mode Dungeon)
Chapter 66: Back to the Lab Again (Warring Triad Series)
Chapter 67: Count Up Your Sins (Warring Triad Series)
Chapter 68: Take Me To Church (Scholasticate Sidequest 3.1)
Chapter 69: School of Hard Knocks (Scholasticate Sidequest 3.4)
Chapter 70: Hey! Teacher! Leave Them Kids Alone! (Scholasticate Sidequest 3.5)
Chapter 71: Written in the Stars (Astrologian 30-50)
Chapter 72: Fate Steps In and Sees You Through (Astrologian 50-60)
Chapter 73: Symphony (Patch 3.3 MSQ)
Chapter 74: Crescendo (Patch 3.3 MSQ)
Chapter 75: Reconstruction (The Firmament Phase 1)
Chapter 76: Future Imperfect (The Firmament Phase 2-3)
Chapter 77: Everything Old is New Again (The Firmament Phase 3-4)
Chapter 78: Clarity (Archer 1-30)
Chapter 79: Let the Music Play (Bard 30-50)
Chapter 80: Duet//Curtain Call (Bard 50-60, Firmament Phase 4)
Chapter 81: Heart and Soul (Carpenter 1-50, Hard Mode Dungeon, Relic Weapon - Anima)
Chapter 82: In the Presence of a King (HW Raid Series 1)
Chapter 83: The King is Not Alone (HW Raid Series 2)
Chapter 84: To the Strongest (HW Raid Series 3)
Chapter 85: Raising Arizona (Relic Weapon - Anima)
Chapter 86: A Veil of Darkness (Patch 3.4 MSQ)
Chapter 87: Light Up the Darkness (Patch 3.4 MSQ)
Chapter 88: Sin City (Patch 3.4 MSQ, HW Alliance Raid 2)
Chapter 89: To See the World in Black and White (Black Mage 50-60)
Chapter 90: Semper Fi//Dress Whites (Scholar 50-60, White Mage 50-60)
Chapter 91: You Can't Take the Sky From Me (HW Alliance Raid 3)
Chapter 92: Hildibrand 2: Son of Hildibrand (Hildibrand 3.2-3.5)
Chapter 93: Loose Ends (Hatching-tide 2022, Carpenter 50-60, Palace of the Dead 50-100, Treasure Hunting)
Chapter 94: Memory Lane (Extreme Trial, Epilogue Quest Series)
Chapter 95: The Last of a Dying Breed (Patch 3.5 MSQ)
Chapter 96: To Thine Own Self Be True (Patch 3.56 MSQ)

Sanguinia fucked around with this message at 19:36 on Sep 12, 2023

# ? Nov 21, 2021 08:04

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# ? Apr 27, 2024 06:07

Sanguinia: Jan 1, 2012; ~Everybody wants to be a cat~
~Because a cat's the only cat~
~Who knows where its at~

The Story Thus Far...

I've already played through most of the content of FF14's base game, A Realm Reborn and its post-launch patch content. If you're interested in reading my entire journey, you can check out my post history in the current iteration of the FF14 General Discussion Thread, right here:

FINAL FANTASY XIV: Patch 5.58 Death Unto Dawn, Part 2 (Only Sanguinia's Posts)

If that's all too much for you and you just want a quick refresher, I've prepared a little introduction. Click the image below!

But maybe you just want to dive right in! If that's the case, feel free to skip ahead.

~*~*~

Sanguinia fucked around with this message at 21:20 on Apr 18, 2023

# ? Nov 21, 2021 08:04

Sanguinia: Jan 1, 2012; ~Everybody wants to be a cat~
~Because a cat's the only cat~
~Who knows where its at~

Chapter 0: Betrayed by Loyal Hands, Her Wrath Stirred

We begin with the opening cinematic, which is incredible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4phUCJlomPo

There's a lot of different ways you can look at this video. In fact I've already done it once in my previous journaling. But lets take a fresh look at it from the perspective of a player who's been anticipating the expansion drop. Its a good perspective for me, since I unlocked this content months ago but abstained from it to do more ARR adventures.

This cinematic accomplishes several goals. First, it provides some pulse-pounding action to get you excited at the prospect of fighting some dragons. For most of ARR you never really fought REAL dragons. Just their minions, pets and most minor phenotypes. You only got a crack at full-grown full-power members of the Dravanian Horde a handful of times. The Devs worked really hard to preserve the idea that dragons are not something to be taken lightly. In fact, the movie reinforces this because the Warrior of Light does not really do that well fighting the bridge dragon. He has to be bailed out by the Dragoons.

Which leads to its second accomplishment, showcasing the Dragoons. Dragoon is one of Final Fantasy's most iconic and unique classes. Other than Black and White Mage I would say its probably the MOST "front of the box," instantly recognizable class out of the entire base-game set. We already knew that Dragoons were an important thing in Isghard from previous plot content, but this really places them front and center so the player knows they'll be important in this story. I've been told by quite a few people that you can get special dialogue for playing Heavensward as a Dragoon. This cinematic is practically an advertisement for that, not only making them look like amazing badasses, but even showing the Warrior of Light taking on the job.

The third thing the cinematic does is remind us how we got here. The gorgeous full-rendered flashbacks to the night the Scions went into exile, showing Nanamo's poisoning and Raubahn's lost arm. Showing the Warrior fleeing through the city, slamming his fist into the stone walls in frustration, donning a hood to hide his face as he escapes. A player couldn't help but recall the emotions they must have felt during that grand finale however many months earlier. Refreshing that emotion, keeping it near the front of our minds even while we're doing other things, is really smart storytelling. What's also noteworthy about this little retelling is the heavy focus it places on Lolorito. During the actual in-game plot, Lolorito was on the fringes for most of it. All eyes were on Teledji during the build-up, and during the actual betrayal a lot of focus was on Ilberd. The director clearly wants us to remember that big reveal, that Lolorito was the mastermind all along despite his relatively light presence. Sidelining Teledji is to be expected of course, since he's dead, but the total removal of Ilberd from this depiction of the story is very interesting to me.

Finally, the cinematic characterizes Ishgard. We've only ever seen the city from a distance, and our interactions with people from there have been mixed, to say the least. While the prospect of fighting dragons is cool enough on its own, trying to give the player a reason to fight for Ishgard is also smart. They show us the city's beauty, the wonder of the floating islands, the weariness of the knights as playful children run by. For all its flaws, this is an amazing place, and it deserves to be defended.

While we're at it, let's also talk about the lyrics of the song, which I've been caring a lot more about since my run through Binding Coils. There are three distinct parts here. First, we have a solo voice in high, mournful tones:

quote:

Beneath the gazing stars
Vales deep and forests dark
Betrayed by loyal hands, Her wrath stirred

Bound fast unto our fate
One path, one burden great
Yet ever do our aching souls point Heavensward
Ever rings out our song

Yes, ever do our aching souls march Heavensward
As they've done for so long

Second, a choir which sings in English:

quote:

To their trespass
We are Witness
Here to pass this
Final sentence

No forgiveness
No deliverance
Only Justice
Only Vengeance

Wills unbending
Faith unending
Stone defending
Now our steel shall sing

Guide us, O mighty Fury
Guide us to victory!

And finally, a second choir, which it turns out is singing in the language of the dragons:

quote:

Dys An Sohm In (Our slumber disturbed,)
Rohs An Kyn Ala na (All my brothers wake.)
Mah Morn Na-ah-ah-ahrr (The saviors must perish.)
Sahl Djahs Afah An (Vengeance will be ours.)
Eorzea!

So the later two parts aren't that hard to figure out. The Ishgardians and Dragons, in pounding orchestral rhythm, are singing the song of war to each other. Both see the other as the one who's guilty for this conflict, and both are eager for this blood to be shed. Only two things that stuck out here. First that Dragons have a spoken language. Up until now I've only ever communicated with dragons through mental contact, and I'd kind of wondered if maybe that was the only way they could talk. Seeing that they have their own language is a nice detail. I wonder how much of a language it actually is, if we're talking like a full-blown language like Klingon, or something like Huttese which is just random sounds faking being a language. The second bit I was curious about was the line "The saviors must perish." What an odd word to use for the Ishgardians. Assuming they're not talking about something else...

Its the first part that merits some extra though. The questions are, who is singing, and what are they singing about? My first thought was that this might be Lady Iceheart singing about the secret origins of the human-dragon conflict which she possesses. When she broke the shield protecting Ishgard, Ysayle looked into the sky and announced that the Heretics were joining the Dragonsong.

It would certainly make sense for her to be singing about "our," souls yearning for the Heavens, being bound to a path, and of some great betrayal. The "Her," with a capital H who's wrath was stirred by betrayal in this interpretation would be Lady Shiva, the patron saint of the Heretics. The placement of these lyrics before the back-and-forth would then represent that the Heretics and Iceheart will play decisive roles in the coming fight.

Another interpretation I thought of was that the singer might be Hydaelyn. The "Her," who's wrath was stirred in this interpretation could still be Shiva, or it could be Iceheart (who is one of Hydaelyn's chosen) being betrayed by her forefathers who caused this war. The 'Her,' could even be Hydaelyn herself, speaking of Iceheart, who she might view as betraying her by walking this bloody path. Either way, the rest of the lyrics would be speaking of the general condition of all Eorzeans being trapped by destiny and yearning for salvation, which would be very on-brand for her, and be fitting if placed right before two sides of a war shouting at each other.

I also think its worth mentioning that regardless of who's singing that first section and the exact meaning behind the words, there's a lot of relevance to the overarching sentiments to the Warrior of Light's circumstances. Betrayal, wrath, feeling trapped, carrying a great burden, having an aching soul, and looking to the Heavens for help. It certainly speaks to how Kheris was feeling after that night in Ul'dah.

Its such a dense piece of media. There's so much potential meaning to unpack. And of course, on a surface level, its a rip-roaring little combination of action and music that can't help but get you pumped to play the game. So, lets do just that! Just to get it out of the way, lets recap the bare fraction of Heavensward I've already seen:

Sanguinia posted:

We enter Ishgard proper at the invitation of "Count Edmont," of House Fortemps. When I did the Coerthas quests I had been under the impression the Lords I was meeting were the actual LORDS, but it seems I was mostly dealing with lesser house members, not the shot callers. The people of the city either look on with suspicion, or ignore us entirely.

The place is full of wounded people and damaged buildings where the Dragons hit last, but up where the High Lords keep their manors you wouldn't even know the place is at war. I remember a comment which noted the city's shields are layered in such a way that the higher you go, the more protection you get. Funny how that works.

Inside I meet Count Edmont, who has made is his wards. He says that some have voiced concerns about this, especially in light of recent events, but as long as we continue our "altruistic endeavors," he doubts any will continue their dissent. In other words we're going to have to work for this golden ticket to stay un-expired. In fact, the family Steward makes it clear that Edmont is counting on us to set a good example because that might get more houses in board with the idea that foreigners are good. Ishgard needs the help, badly.

We get a tour of the city, which along with talking to the Stewart fleshes out Ishgard's past more. The first King, Thordan, founded the kingdom based on a vision from Halone the Fury. This I had heard before. I did not hear that he brought with him twelve great knights, nor that their presence aroused the rage of Nidhogg. The first conflict between Man and Dragon led to the death of Thordan, and half of the twelve knights. Then his son Prince Haldrath took up his father's lance and smote the beast. This would be when he took the Eye, I would think. Four of the six surviving knights founded Ishgard's four Great Houses, but nothing is mentioned about the other two.

Then we meet the head of the city markets which include all the amenities of a major city except, as far as I can find, someone who sells Chocobo food. I do find a vendor that sells some very high item-level jewelry, which is nice because I get to shore up my gear set's weak points. We also get an "invitation," from a dunk to a bar in the city's poorest area, named the Forgotten Knight. The route there fully displays the class differences in Ishgard. The poor huddle around small fires, some literally dying in the streets with only a few priests to help them. I get a smile as a group of rowdy street urchins start pelting me with snowballs and track my movements as I run past. Once we get inside the bartender, retired knight Gibrillont, says we're going to want to keep our eyes sharp and our knives sharper if we want to spend time in that part of town.

Tataru thinks the Forgotten Knight is the perfect place for her to set up shop, since it'll be bustling with rumors and news from beyond the gates thanks to all the workers and non-local merchants passing through. Meanwhile, me and Alphi head back up top and let Count Edmont know we're happy to serve even though he would never impose on his guests. Wink wink, nudge nudge. While Alphi gets recruited into bureaucratic work for the House's logistics and finances, I'm asked to help the Count's young heirs with more militant duties. The eldest, Artoirel, is instantly offended that anyone would think he needs help, while the youngest, Emmanellain, openly cracks jokes about shoving all his work off onto the hero. Edmont gives them both a highly decorous ego-puncture.

I think I'm gonna like him.

So, Tataru is tending bar, Alphi is pushing papers, and I've got a couple of rich failsons who need some hand-holding. We'll pick up from here next time.

Sanguinia fucked around with this message at 20:11 on Nov 26, 2021

# ? Nov 21, 2021 08:05

DoubleNegative: Jan 27, 2010; The most virtuous child in the entire world.

Quite eagerly gonna be reading your journey through this.

# ? Nov 21, 2021 08:18

Begemot: Oct 14, 2012; The One True Oden

Hell yeah, I've really enjoyed all the posts in the general FFXIV thread, excited to continue following along.

Heavensward is a hell of a ride, the game only gets better from here!

# ? Nov 21, 2021 08:26

Sunday Morning: Apr 7, 2007; Easy; Smellrose

Liked and subscribed.

# ? Nov 21, 2021 08:32

Veotax: May 16, 2006

Hell yeah, I've loved your posts in the FFXIV thread, been looking forward to this!

# ? Nov 21, 2021 08:36

ZZT the Fifth: Dec 6, 2006; I shot the invisible swordsman.

As someone who's spent the past four months binging this game and its storyline and been reading your posts in the main thread, I am extremely looking forward to watching your journey. I hope you enjoy it every step of the way.

# ? Nov 21, 2021 08:46

Zutaten: May 8, 2007; What the shit.

The dragon language is somewhere halfway between Klingon and just sorta sounds, in my opinion. It's not a fully fleshed out language with a team of linguists behind it like Klingon, but the words used always mean the same thing every time they're used, if that makes sense. Morn always means death. Mah Morn means 'must die,' Akh Morn means 'Circle of Death,' Akh Afah amphitheatre (where you fought Shiva) means 'Eternal Circle' amphitheatre, and so on.

Followed you here from the FF14 thread and excited to see the award-winning expansion Heavensward through your eyes.

# ? Nov 21, 2021 08:58

Hellioning: Jun 27, 2008

Oh yeah it's time.

# ? Nov 21, 2021 09:22

Artificer: Apr 8, 2010; You're going to try ponies and you're. Going. To. LOVE. ME!!

I will watch your career with great interest.

# ? Nov 21, 2021 09:24

SirSamVimes: Jul 21, 2008; ~* Challenge *~

I look forward to watching your journey through the award-winning Heavensward expansion which is included in the free trial of the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV.

# ? Nov 21, 2021 09:27

Lord_Magmar: Feb 24, 2015; "Welcome to pound town, Slifer slacker!"

This is certainly an award-winning LP.

# ? Nov 21, 2021 09:31

Runa: Feb 13, 2011

I was looking forward to this thread getting posted.

# ? Nov 21, 2021 09:44

Staggy: Mar 20, 2008; Said little bitch, you can't fuck with me if you wanted to
These expensive
These is red bottoms
These is bloody shoes

I'm very much looking forward to your take on Heavensward - you got a lot of detail out of ARR that I missed/forgot.

# ? Nov 21, 2021 10:03

Yapping Eevee: Nov 12, 2011; STAND TOGETHER.
FIGHT WITH HONOR.
RESTORE BALANCE.

Eevees play for free.

I appreciate your description of Tataru, and I look forward to seeing how this all turns out. Hope you have fun!

# ? Nov 21, 2021 10:21

Torrannor: Apr 27, 2013; ---FAGNER---
TEAM-MATE

Following the SFDebris model is ambitious. And since I've never played FF14, this looks like a cool way to experience it's story. I'll be watching this.

# ? Nov 21, 2021 12:08

Zanael: Jan 30, 2007; Finn 3:16 says I just licorice
whipped your peppermint ass

Oh hell yeah.

# ? Nov 21, 2021 14:20

Cythereal: Nov 8, 2009; I love the potoo,
and the potoo loves you.

I will be following with great interest.

# ? Nov 21, 2021 14:38

aquaticrabbit: Aug 2, 2004

Echoing the hype and enthusiasm to see this thread get off the ground. There�s something amazing about your writing style and ability to summarize a sprawling and epic story while still applying an honest criticism of the material. Bookmarked this thread with an open-hand slam. Enjoy Heavensward! :getin:

# ? Nov 21, 2021 14:59

Thundarr: Dec 24, 2002

Looking forward to your further adventures!

# ? Nov 21, 2021 15:39

wokow6: Oct 19, 2013

I am so excited to see this. I've been following your Newbie Journals since the beginning, and I was always hyped to see when you posted a new one.

Good luck!

# ? Nov 21, 2021 16:18

Regy Rusty: Apr 26, 2010

Congrats on getting this project off the ground, looking forward to it continuing!

# ? Nov 21, 2021 16:37

Rhonne: Feb 13, 2012; Do you want to know what we do to artists?

Nice, your Newbie Journals in the FFXIV thread were great, looking forward to your journey through Heavensward.

# ? Nov 21, 2021 16:43

iTrust: Mar 25, 2010; It's not good for your health.

Real happy that the Journals are continuing and I hope you enjoy Heavensward as much as ARR - I think this was a really good decision and I'm excited to F5 this thread regularly.

# ? Nov 21, 2021 16:59

Abhorrence: Feb 5, 2010; A love that crushes like a mace.

Hell yeah, looking forward to seeing how much you like the really good parts of this game's story. (As opposed to the parts that are merely OK)

# ? Nov 21, 2021 17:02

grandalt: Feb 26, 2013; I didn't fight through two wars to rule
I fought for the future of the world

And the right to have hot tea whenever I wanted

Well, this looks to be quite fun. I look forward to your journey. I do like that you took the time to check the song's lyrics, it took me far to long to notice what was in there.

# ? Nov 21, 2021 17:19

Rythian: Dec 31, 2007; You take what comes, and the rest is void.

Mashing 5 already. I've really enjoyed reading your ARR stuff, so this is bound to be fantastic.

# ? Nov 21, 2021 17:23

Hunter Noventa: Apr 21, 2010

I am absolutely here for this.

# ? Nov 21, 2021 17:44

Issaries: Sep 15, 2008; "Negotiations were going well. They were very impressed by my hat." -Issaries the Concilliator"

Sunday Morning posted:

Liked and subscribed.

And leave a comment below.

# ? Nov 21, 2021 18:36

Melomane Mallet: Oct 11, 2012; I'm bad; I'm just not born that way.

Super looking forward to this. :munch:

...Though, you do realize you still have more ARR Hildibrand to do? Unless it's being saved for later?

# ? Nov 21, 2021 18:43

DrakePegasus: Jan 30, 2009; It was Plundersaurus Rex's dream to be the greatest pirate dragon ever.

12 days from now checking this thread for updates will be the only thing that tears me away from actually playing the game. Godspeed.

# ? Nov 21, 2021 19:17

Artificer: Apr 8, 2010; You're going to try ponies and you're. Going. To. LOVE. ME!!

Ooo what was the decision about how to integrate your ARR journals with this LP, if at all?

# ? Nov 21, 2021 21:48

Regy Rusty: Apr 26, 2010

Artificer posted:

Ooo what was the decision about how to integrate your ARR journals with this LP, if at all?

Pretty sure that question has been answered in the OP as it includes both links to the originals and a summary of the story so far

# ? Nov 22, 2021 01:06

Pharohman777: Jan 14, 2012; by Fluffdaddy

You really need to watch the 1.0 hildibrand cutscenes at some point. He got involved in some really ludicrous stuff right before dalamud fell.

# ? Nov 22, 2021 01:19

SirPhoebos: Dec 10, 2007; WELL THAT JUST HAPPENED!

Happy journeys Sang!

# ? Nov 22, 2021 01:47

Artificer: Apr 8, 2010; You're going to try ponies and you're. Going. To. LOVE. ME!!

Regy Rusty posted:

Pretty sure that question has been answered in the OP as it includes both links to the originals and a summary of the story so far

Ah yes missed that. Thanks.

# ? Nov 22, 2021 01:54

Sanguinia: Jan 1, 2012; ~Everybody wants to be a cat~
~Because a cat's the only cat~
~Who knows where its at~

Chapter 1: Fortunate Son

I'm given the option of which failson to help out first. The younger brother, Emmanellain, says we'll be taking an airship to the Sea of Clouds and helping out House Haillenarte. Those would be the folks who's young lord I saved from a false heresy accusation. Emman seems very affable, he's got a sense of humor and he talks about having ambitions to surpass his older brother in renown and wealth by succeeding at jobs like this one. Artoirel, on the other hand, really has a chip on his shoulder. He assures me that his outburst at being offered my help had nothing to do with me and everything to do with his feeling that his father doesn't trust him. We'll be taking Chocobos to a place called Falcon's Nest and helping out Houses Durendaire and Dzemael. The Durendaires I've worked with many times now, but to my knowledge I've never actually met anyone from House Dzemael despite helping them out with the whole Darkhold incident. Should be interesting.

Before I jump into that though, I notice that a bunch of sidequests have lit up across the city. I'm never one to turn down a good sidequest! First, I get a courier job to invite the High Lords to a banquet at Fortemps Manor, just so I can see where their homes are and be reminded that they generally don't like foreigners, especially adventurers. I notice that only one of the others, the Haillenartes, enjoy homes at Last Vigil, the highest point on the city and right next door to the Archbishop's court. The other two manors are a fair distance away by comparison. I wonder how much that status has to do with the Forts and the Haills being close allies and at odds with the other two.

Then I meet an old man who wants to teach me more of Ishgard's illustrious history. He shows me a statue of Saint Reinette, telling me the story of how as a Dragoon she slew the dragon which killed her lover, then threw down her lance and spent the rest of her days as a nun taking care of the poor. Another statue, of Saint Valeroyant, one of my Azure forebearers, was specifically targeted by the dragons for destruction when they got past the city shield. He considers the vandalism a mark of pride, that this was a hero so baneful to the dragons that they wishes to erase his memorial. Finally, we visit Saint Reymanaud's Cathedral, named in honor of Ishgard's first Archbishop with a lovely statue of Halone on display in the center.

The deacon explains how this cathedral, and all the stoneworks dedicated to those patron saints, serve as testament to Ishgard's struggle against the dragons. It really shows how central this war is to their society. Every street has a reminder of some great hero, and every great hero's story includes them being a dragonslayer. Reinette may be canonized for her work with the poor, but the loss of her love to a dragon and her reaping bloody revenge is a quintessential part of the tale. Another interesting detail is that Halone's statue is the only one with facial features. All the knights and dragoons around town are very abstract, more symbol than person, but their god is humanized. The deacon makes a comment about how the church doesn't seek to convert, only to explain Ishgard's destiny, and talks about the importance of unity to that destiny. It makes me feel like the Ishgardian religion has a fundamentally dehumanizing element to it. They're all just cogs in the machine of divine purpose, even the heroes of legend. Eerie stuff.

A trip by the airship dock gives me a chance to unlock Specialist Goldsmithing, which gives me a new crafting skill where I can wait a turn without losing any buffs. That MAY be the best skill of all time. It also hands me another sidequest to help out airship logistics. Since the Calamity airships have become an essential part of Ishgardian life, since they're the only means to reach the parts of Coerthas on the far side of the avalanches. They're also the only means to explore and exploit the resources in the Sea of Clouds, which Ishgard desperately needs with the permanent winter they're trapped in. Way back around level 40 a random NPC talked to me about how there's an entire fisherman's guild in Ishgard which keeps the city fed by harvesting the Sea of Clouds. That tells you how important airship tech is to these folks all by itself. This questline reinforces that importance by explaining that its so devastating when Dravanian raiders disrupt the shipping lanes, that the airships now use Astrologian prophecies to avoid them.

I drop by the Athenaeum Astrologicum to get updated star readings. A salty boy at the front desk explains to me at length that this is a place of learning and their instruments are not to frittered about the battlefield. Nice to know the Astrologians in the capital are even WORSE than the ones down at the giant telescope. He has, however, been ordered by his superior Lord Jannequinard to inform visitors that they also instruct in the more combat-oriented Sharlayan school of astrology. I should probably just forget about all that though, because Lord Jannequinard is a loser and skirt-chaser, the shame of the order who's only allowed any authority because of family name, and the Astrologian leaders do not endorse his teachings. I like the guy already. In fact, he's the one that gives me my updated star charts, but there's no time to talk to him about my fellow Scion's home-city. The readings indicate the only way for this airship to avoid dragon attack is to launch early, so I'm sent to Skysteel Manufactory with order to speed up repairs.

Unfortunately there's a problem: Skysteel Manufactory doesn't actually know that much about fixing airships. They're stuck with the job, but their main focus is on anti-dragon weaponry, which is why they train Machinists. They're the most qualified to fiddle with magitech, but 'most,' is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence. Good news for Cid's bottom line since they'll certainly need to buy more if they're bad at fixing them, not such good news for Ishgard's long-term viability as a civilization. Lot of neat lore in this sidequest, and a fun way to point me toward where I can learn two of the three new expansion classes.

Then the game decides to remind me that Ishgard not having long-term viability as a civilization might not be the worst thing. A trip by the Forgotten Knight to activate the Clan Centurio monster hunting system hands me two sidequests. First, I take some self-medication downstairs to a knight who's lord has been stripped of all lands and titles due to his wife's heresy. The knight appreciates the gesture, but asks me to take the bottle to his lord. The man surely needs it more than he does.

The title-stripped lord thanks me for the kindness, and talks about how he's come to accept this outcome because to go against the Fury is an even worse crime than those "thrust upon," his wife. Even after her execution, he doesn't believe she was guilty, but he dares not say it aloud lest he lose more than just his station. Cripes. I find the man's son looking upon the Supreme Sacred Tribunal of Halonic Inquisitory Doctrine, aka Inquisition Headquarters, the place where his mother was put to death.

To say the kid is bitter would be an understatement. Iceheart may just have a new recruit before long. But if that wasn't enough to turn your stomach, the other quest I picked up at the bar was to collect firewood in a desperate attempt to stop peasants from freezing to death.

Since the Dragon attack, the Brume district streets are full of people who lost their homes and livelihoods. Many are suffering from untreated wounds, illnesses and malnutrition on top of the exposure to the deep-winter level cold and snow. A local asks me to petition the Temple Knight at their headquarters, The Congregation, for firewood supplies. But the knight who sees me says he can't spare any. Firewood has become a commodity, you see, and can't be given freely. It makes sense, of course. Coerthas' wood supplies have to be rapidly dwindling. Cold and snow killing trees, half the region inaccessible except by airship. And yet somehow every fancy building I walk into has a roaring fire and fancy carpets to insulate all that bare stone everything is made of. The nobles and merchants are hoarding firewood for their own comfort while their peasantry literally freezes to death in the streets.

The Temple Knight does have a solution. There's a lot of wood from the destroyed building which won't be of use in reconstruction. The smallfolk can burn that. I start distributing the stuff, and the embarrassing amount of thanks I get makes my heart ache. I've saved villages from total oblivion or a lifetime of slavery that weren't as thankful as these people are for this not-even-that-good-for-burning construction material wood. I'm saving their lives, but I don't feel proud about it. I feel disgusted that I'm even needing to do this when there are rich bastards just a dozen yards away in a big, well-heated arena demanding mulled wine while they watch the Chocobo Fights.

Worst of all, the last person I hand the wood to, Osaulie, is a thief. She promises to distribute the wood for me, and Kheris indulges in a rare round of picking up the idiot ball by handing the entire stash over to the child. The old man who started the quest says the girl didn't mean to hurt anyone, she just saw an opportunity to get ahead. Unfortunately that won't be any comfort to the people dying of frostbite. This god drat city...

I feel a need to get out of Ishgard, so I do a mental coinflip and decide to help out Emman first. I have been curious about the Sea of Clouds for a while now. Sadly, the first impression doesn't amount to much, as a dense fog covers the place and waters everything down to a murky seafront green-and-grey pallette.

Our arrival is accompanied by a voiceover. I didn't mention it before, but the kick-off of Heavensward was framed by a reading from the memoirs of Duke Edmont, telling of these events long after they happened. I didn't think much of it at the time, but it seems they're going to continue using it, so its worth a nod.

Camp Cloudtop is a considered by its garrison to be a backwater. Its on the opposite side of the Sea of Clouds from Dravania, so they haven't seen a single dragon in years. The feeling is that you only get assigned to Cloudtop if you're defective in some way as a soldier, be that attitude or ability. The primary function of the base is to serve as a drydock for an experimental Ishgardian super-airship, the Protector.

The size of a galleon, its purported to be capable of defeating dragons in the sky. That could be a game-changer in the war, but the thing just doesn't function properly. They don't say how long they've been trying to get it to work. Since its made clear to me that Cloudtop is a low priority for supplies to the point that the garrison has to ration and is experimenting with agriculture and animal husbandry in the weird sky-climate, I'd say its been a long time with little progress.

We meet up with the commander of this base, Ser Laniaitte de Haillenart, older sister of young Francel, the lord I saved from the inquisition. She's pleased to finally be able to thank the person who rescued her baby bro, and her family. After all the mood-souring business I just dealt with in Ishgard, it's nice to meet a friendly person. I'm excited to find out exactly what Emman led me out here to help her with.

You motherfucker, did you bring me up here to WINGMAN for you? What happened to earning the adulation of the people and surpassing your brother?! I can't even with this...

Lani doesn't hold this dingus against me, and tells me that their biggest problem right now is a native Beast Tribe, the Vanu Vanu. When they were first discovered these Owl-like people were quite affable. They welcomed Ishgardian envoys and deals were made to share the sky-islands. Then suddenly, without warning or reason, they became aggressive and started attacking Ishgardian settlements and scouting parties. She assigns Emman and his servant Honoroit to "dragon watch," duty to get them out of the way, and asks me to go on patrol.

When I find one they're impressively beefy bird bois, far burlier than the Ixal. They also refer to me as a 'netherling,' which is pretty strange. Wonder what's up with that. By the time I get back, the sun has risen and the fog is gone, so I finally get a good look at the Sea of Clouds. Its breathtaking. Not to mention it instantly answers the question of how these islands float. The gigantic over-aspected wind crystals were unnoticeable in the gloom of the fog. Sure hope we're not going to mutate from being here...

My good mood over the view doesn't last. I find Emman sleeping on the fake-job, having pawned watching for dragons off on his bodyman, and when I wake him up he whines about how he wants a more serious mission. Lani begrudgingly obliges for the sake of their family alliance. Turns out those crystals are not only wind-aspected. Some of them are water-aspected, and they naturally generate fresh water which forms into lakes. We're asked to secure some for the camp so they won't need to ship in fresh water by airship anymore. When we get there Emman is immediately bored, and opts to make this into a competition. He runs off before either myself or Honoroit can stop him.

Exploring the lakes looking for the Spring Crystals is a little tedious because the area is MASSIVE and my mount speed is below max for the first time in a few months. Still, the design of the area is pretty interesting. I see these large stone pillars that look almost like trees and have crystals growing inside them, and a lot of the flora and fauna around the lakes almost looks like it comes from under the ocean. It makes me wonder about the origins of these islands. Did they perhaps start under the sea? Did some event cause naturally occurring ocean crystal to over-aspect in the distant past and rip huge chunks of land into the sky? If that's the case, were the Vanu once some under-water tribe like the Sahagin which evolved to be bird-like because of the wind aether? That would explain why they look far to stocky to possibly fly.

My musing is interrupted when Honoroit informs me that Lord Emman has been taken prisoner by the Vanu. Because of course he has. We track them back to their village, and Honoroit goes for reinforcements, but if I wait for them the little idiot will probably be dead. So I bust in, fight my way to him single-handedly, and cut him loose. The Vanu didn't even bother to take the guy's sword. I quickly find out why as we make our escape: every time a Vanu approaches he curls into a ball and cowers behind me rather than helping me fight.

I would be a lot more annoyed if I didn't notice pretty quickly that the monsters inside this quest duty have MUCH less HP than the ones out in the world. Thanks to running a lot of Praetorium for the Irregular Mogstones I needed for my jacket, I came into this with pretty much all my jobs accidentally overleveled, so I wasn't going to comment much on quest difficulty this time. But when I compared these Vanu to the mobs I'd fought in the overworld, there couldn't be any doubt that these had far fewer hitpoints. And this became a pattern I noticed in other instanced quest duties after this. Very odd choice, to make the overworld's enemies scale so noticeably differently than the ones inside quests.

Regardless, I'm not made to fight alone for long. Of all people, my old pal Haurchefant rides over the hill with a squad of House Fortemps Knights and backs me up. We cut our way through the Vanu, but they still manage to encircle us. Chief Honu is not amused by our insolence, and declares we shall be offered to "Him." Oh no....

Bismark, the Lord of Mists. A brand new Primal for a brand new Beast War. I'll never be able to look at tasty finger sandwiches the same way again...

We try to make a run for it but we're herded to the island's edge. Just when we seem doomed, a familiar blue sail swoops down on us. Its the Enterprise! Cid, Biggs and Wedge hustle us on-board. Bismark makes one last attempt at eating us for daring to share his sky, but Cid manages to juke him, and we're off before he pokes that big head out of the clouds again.

It turns out happenstance was all that saved us. Haurchefant was escorting Cid, and Cid was only here because he'd been hired to inspect the Protector and see if he could get it flying. They arrived around the same time Honoroit came looking for help, and if they hadn't been there nobody could have gotten there in time to assist us. Still, in a way this is good. Now we know why the Vanu suddenly became aggressive, they've been tempered by a Primal. Why they summoned him in the first place is another question, since they were co-existing amicably with the Ishgardians. Still, at least this will probably lead to Cloudtop getting more resources and attention. At least it better, before things get real bad.

As for Emmanellain, he reflects on this experience of captivity, humiliation, displaying his cowardice, near-death only averted by chance... and decides he deserves to be honored for ensuring the discovery of a new Primal. There is a bright spot though. The "honor," he's earned by his behavior is delivered by his father the Count immediately upon his return home.

Tune in next time, when we find out if the other brother is as much a dipshit at this one...

~*~*~

Melomane Mallet posted:

Super looking forward to this.

...Though, you do realize you still have more ARR Hildibrand to do? Unless it's being saved for later?

Hildibrand Shall Return

Sanguinia fucked around with this message at 05:58 on Nov 22, 2021

# ? Nov 22, 2021 04:12

Cythereal: Nov 8, 2009; I love the potoo,
and the potoo loves you.

The Vanu Vanu are my favorite beast tribe in the game. God I hate their zone, but I love the chubby Polynesian owls themselves.

# ? Nov 22, 2021 04:29

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# ? Apr 27, 2024 06:07

Unlucky7: Jul 11, 2006; Fallen Rib

I think quest generated mobs tend to skew to the easier side, in general.

# ? Nov 22, 2021 04:47

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > The Award-Winning Heavensward Expansion(tm)! Lets Play Final Fantasy XIV!

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