The Seventh Umbral Era Looms! Let's Play FFXIV

Seriously, I can't help be draw parallels to the X-men when members spout lines like this.



She attempts to rally everyone together with an inspiring speech of unity, then dismisses the group.



Of course Sammie still needs to get the last word in and we follow Minfilia back to her office.



Calling her whole operation into question.



What about my GIANT AXE, lady? Not everyone doing these quests only leveled a crafting class and runs around parleying everything.



Sammie eventually wears her down a bit.



It seems that she proposes we form an alliance with the beastmen since EVERYONE hates the Garleans. I suppose I've heard crazier things before.



Again, always in the gutter.



At least she finally seems to agree with Minfilia for once. She even apologizes before we leave.



Another day, another gil.

Next time: Ifrit Stare-down

11/20/2012 - The Flames of Ifrit



Rather than report to Minfilia for our mission, this time Sammie suggests that we be proactive and approach the Amalj'aa ourselves to propose a union.



Despite this, Minfilila is still our client for the mission?



It seems I'll be going alone on this one, though, as Sammie will be investigating a sighting of the supposed Paragon (aka the one teaching the beast tribes how to summon their primals).



She does promise to meet me at the entrance to the Amalj'aa area, though.



When we rendezvous in southeastern Thanlan again I find Sammie with a pair of random Sylph.



The Sylphs complain about how Sammie has come with a letter she had penned herself, though why is lost on me.



She quickly clears up the confusion. It seems the Sylph wanted her to deliver a letter to the Paragon and for some reason though that the Amalj'aa would just let us waltz into their stronghold to hand it over.



Of course we immediately get captured.



Sammie takes it in stride.



They proceed to knock me out (but not Sammie!) and dump us off in some cave.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c7...6-31-47-04.jpg

I quickly regain consciousness.



Sammie suspects we may meet with the Amalj'aa elders since they've left us alive, but only time will tell.



Our only other company here is a bunch of obviously brainwashed prisoners.



It doesn't take long for the Amalj'aa guards to call for us and drag us off to meet our fate.



To where we are headed is uncertain, but Kurow couldn't really care less.



We are brought before some kind of Amalj'aa elder with a staff of fire, performing some sort of ritual.



Various runes begin to form upon the ground.



Showers of embers erupt from a fireball in the sky...



...from which Ifrit emerges!

Ifrit falls from the sky and comes to rest on a nearby cliff face.



He then sprints down the side of the butte (parkour style) and comes to rest in front of the Amalj'aa and their prisoners.



It seems that Ifrit was summoned to cleanse us, heathens as we are. I guess this may be how the others became obedient husks?



Sammie interjects and attempts to reason with the hellbeast.



Sammie's words don't reach Ifrit, who charges up to unleash an attack.



All is bathed in the cleansing fires of damnation.



It doesn't seem to affect us, though.



Seeing this the Amalj'aa turn hostile.



In addition to the Amalj'aa we must also defeat the brainwashed prisoners.



I'm sure this was meant to be a parley mission, but fuck that.



Shortly thereafter the actual Amalj'aa join the fray.



Still really no threat, though.



This doesn't sit well with Ifrit.



He joins our level to tease us about how we are unable to summon our deities for protection like the Amalj'aa have.



Ifrit asks to whom we kneel and Sammie takes this opportunity to get some more innuendo out.



The Amalj'aa don't take too kindly to her words.



Ifrit claims that he can smell the influence of another primal upon us.



Sammie denies all of it, because if we have any primal influence its unbeknownst to us.



It seems the Paragon had already warned Ifrit of the "godless blessed" (i.e. us), but he also made him promise not to murder us.



But we also have to pledge allegiance to Ifrit.



Sammie and I just stand around defiantly while the other prisoners kneel before him.



And then everyone...wanders off?



The Sylph show up again and cry over how everything didn't go their away (again).



Sammie is annoyed that they were simply watching and not helping, but then asks if we could somehow summon our own primal (dun dun dun, foreshadowing).



Sylph say they don't have a clue if we can or not, but then go back into spouting about how its a bad idea and shit will just go south because of it.

Sammie is done dealing with their shit.



She is excited over the promise of being able to summon primals at will, even if it means more run ins with the Sylph.



Returning to Path headquarters, Tataru is confused as to what I'm talking about since we kind of created our own mission.



Minfilia already knows what's going on, though, and she's none too happy about us risking our lives over it.



She does commend us on gathering such information, though, and is especially excited over the fact that Path members seem to be blessed by a particular deity.



She does feel guilty about getting us into such a mess (in a round about way), though, so she gives up a reward even though we went against her wishes.



Even if the experience part of the reward is reduced since I put it toward a lower level class.

Next time: More Forest Adventures

12/7/2012 - The Ala Mhigan Resistance



This time I'll be making a trip out to the Black Shroud to respond to a distress signal.



The signal is unidentified, but at this point I don't think much of anything could give me trouble.



Sammie will meet me there too, so there's really no delay.



I arrive late, interrupting Sammie lamenting something that her sister had done.



I guess she's dead?



After falling to the Garleans, the Ala Mhigans more or less dispersed to the other cities (the Highlander sub-race of Hyur available as a character creation option are from there). It seems that some are still banded together in a resistance effort, though, and these are a small set of them.



When attempting to elude a Garlean pursuit their best scout was cornered when the split up to throw the attackers off their trail.



Its now our job to go out there and find her.



Ah, yes, the promise of sexual favors is always what calls a good man to arms.



The targets are close, and it seems to be just a couple wolf monsters.



Ridiculously weak wolf monsters.



Yeah, thanks for coming along to watch Sammie.



Sammie says she's going to go receive her rewards of sexual gratification from the captain for saving his scout and that she'll meet up later.



Of course, everyone still manages to beat me back to base.



Blah blah blah stop killing things without Minfilia's direct permission.



But whatever, have a reward!



Sammie reveals that she actually knew everyone from the Ala Mhigan resistance, and that they're planning a big operation against the Garleans.



They'll be calling for our help in that soon, but its over for now.



And now I get my (decreased exp for my carpenter being under-level) rewards for completing the mission!

Next time: 9999 Damage? WTF

12/13/2012 - So Long Path of the Twelve



Once again to Minfilia for pre-mission dialog.



We join a meeting in progress between Sammie, Minfilia and the Ala Mhigo resistance lead by the surly looking Highlander Hyur.



Joining the resistance! How exciting! Surely they won't drop this plot point like a rock immediately after!



The leader gives me a chance to speak with his men before deciding to join up. They mostly just go on and on about how they're going to free Ala Mhigo once again for their future children.



It seems that the remaining Ala Mhigo residents are forced into Garlean service at a particular age. This means for some bothersome moral quandaries whenever we have to actually fight Garlean soldiers!



Its once again implied that Sammie's sister was killed in escaping the occupied Ala Mhigo.



The resistance leader's amazing plan is to steal one (as in, only one) airship and take back the entire occupied city using it. Never mind that fact that they sent two of those things just for a scouting party in the Black Shroud earlier. Needless to say, their plan sucks.



Man, if Castrum Novum is "comparatively lightly guarded" then I sure as hell don't want to see Ala Mhigo. This is a suicide mission of the highest caliber.



Minfilia is, once again, the only voice of reason. Though somehow I doubt whether its going to make any difference in whether they carry out this plan.



"Fuck this, we're outta here with or without your help."



Minfilia stops Sammie before she can join them.



She says she just has to help, though.



She even pulls the cliche "don't follow me! I couldn't stand to see you die!" action movie trope.



Mor Dhona music

Mor Dhona battle music

Of course I ignore her and head directly to Mor Dhona. We find an imperial squad roaming around outside of Camp Revenant's Toll to the northwest of the area.



The reactions of the camp works is priceless, especially since these Garleans are probably small potatoes compared to the lv80+ monsters roaming just outside the camp.



My mission is to track this imperial group. Carpenter probably isn't the best choice.



I swap to Warrior instead. The Garleans are pretty quick, but you eventually catch up a bit.



Eventually you get far enough along and it triggers a cutscene.



The Garleans stop in their tracks for some reason.



Oh, its because one of their ridiculous airships came as backup when I was obviously tailing them around the area. If they could spare a single one for some random Warrior pestering some scouts, how many would they send if we actually made an attack on Ala Mhigo? Stupid, stupid plan.

Now with sufficient backup the Garleans engage.



The gist of the battle is this- you have to take all of the enemy soldiers out, but the airship is running support with mortar fire. The blue circle is its targeting area and eventually turn red as its ready to fire.



You can lure the imperials into the fire as well to kill them, but getting caught in the blast yourself is an instant KO for 9999 damage.



Such bullshit.



Take 2. I actually caught up to the scouts on the way to the cutscene, but they're invincible once they're down to 1 HP.



Round 2 doesn't go much better.



Third try is the charm. I had one of the guys down to 1 HP and the other at less than 50% so it was a bit easier avoiding the mortar fire.



The hardest part is knowing when to disengage and run for it.



Once the last guy is almost dead he tries to make a break for it.



More dudes start to run in, but a cutscene is triggered instead.



Some kind of fire in the direction of Castrum Novum?



The airship flies off.



Then Sammie shows up? At least her dialog is amazing, as usual.



Fog envelops the area, and we start to come across the bodies of the fallen resistance members.



Oh hey, at least the leader is still standing!



Or...not.



Something bright flashes from off camera and hits Sammie like a truck.



Its The Black Wolf, Gaius van Baelsar, leader of the Garlean forces at Ala Mhigo. This is one of the very few voiced cutscenes and his voice sounds very similar to Darth Vader.



He fires a second blast at me and its blocked by something.



Its Thancred! Though how he blocked it with that puny knife and/or the power of song is beyond me.



Some other random NPCs (I assume from the other nations' opening quests?) show up, forcing Baelsar to draw his weapon. A gunblade.

For whatever reason he continues to use his Mega Buster, though.



Thancred uses his agility to his advantage.



And by advantage I mean doesn't hurt him at all.



Random cat lady manages to stop his bullets with magic.



Baelsar is done fucking around.



Random NPCs hold their ground.



He spouts some random cryptic message.



Is that an...airship?



The world erupts into some kind of flame and/or sand storm.



I find myself in a random cave with terrified children. Is this for real or just another Echo?



Imperials arrive and surround the children.



The leader of the group begins chanting words of "inspiration" at the children in an attempt to brainwash them.



It seems to work out pretty well in the imperials' favor, when the children start screaming about killing the beast tribes and their gods.



They then wander out to rendezvous with an imperial airship.



Of course it was an echo. I awake to find Sammie keeping an eye on me.



There's always time for a lewd comment.



No shit? After we've done like a dozen missions together you think that maybe we're in this together?



"I like the way your ass looks."



Thancred showed up just to tell us we need to not be so hasty about fighting with the leader of the advanced guard of the Garlean Empire.



Then suddenly, shocking reveal! Sammie is from Ala Mhigo.

As if that wasn't totally obvious by this point.



Once again, people speaking in vague riddles.



He warps out before Sammie can get the answers she seeks, though.



The world may never know!



And with that we head back to town.

It seems Sammie has already checked in with Minfilia before I made it back.



Minfilia is noticeably pissed that all the resistance members are dead immediately after she told them that they were going to die.



Yeah, one airship wasn't going to cut it.



Keep clinging to that hope lady.



And there's my reward.

And with that the Path of the Twelve missions trail off (for real this time). We've been introduced to our first real threat in Gaius van Baelsar and gotten some insight into how the Garleans are keeping their ranks thick, but left with more questions than answers.

And to be honest, most of these answers will never come. And I'm fairly sure the Echo is never spoken of ever again.

Next time: Talking Tyrants Assemble!

the lalafel(taru) and the monk lady with the headband are the story npcs from gridania, and the white cat lady is from the limsa story

12/24/2012 - Dungeon Diving



Back with the Grand Company of Ul'dah, the Immortal Flames, I'm tasked with investigating the disappearance of an investigation group in the Thousand Maws of Toto-Rak, a dungeon near Gridania. Hopefully this won't just lead to a recursive situation where they have to continue sending more and more adventurers.



Before that we have to head to Gridania for information. Turns out that the previous group was "bottom of the barrel" adventurers and Gridania's Wood Wailer guards can't be bothered to even look for them. Especially since they were from Ul'dah.

They are nice enough to give me permission to go, but they're forcing me to form a party of 2-4 people total so I'll have to call in some friends.



So I call in help from my (tiny) linkshell and all 2 other members show up- Elesa Light and my brother Prince Laharl.



The dungeon wasn't hard to get to, but I just wanted to point out again how shit the map was in the Black Shroud.



It turns out the other group was barred entrance here as well, even after bribing, and supposedly turned to the local moogles to sneak them in.



I guess I must look a bit heartier than the previous lot, though, so he lets me in the front door.



There are also Garlean Magitek things in the dungeon, but the guard says he doesn't trust them.



Toto Rak music

Entering the dungeon shows a little cutscene with some of the monsters and then a title card.



There are little explorer notes along the wall as you explore the dungeon that explain how the thing works. Long story short you have to collect "lights" (or something) from points around the dungeon to power the Magitek locks that bar further entry.



Things like this.



There are a lot of monsters about, but nothing particularly dangerous at my level since this is geared toward a party of around lv25.



Eventually I find the lock and insert our photocells.



This leads to a small room with two moogles. Hopefully they can shed some light on what happened to the other party.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c7...9-04-52-46.jpg

Moogles are kinda assholes.



He does find some ruined gear from the supposed party, but he says he couldn't find anything else because he was too terrified of the Garleans in the area.



Moogles just don't hold anything back.



At least they didn't lead them in on purpose.



It seems like the party had messed with Garlean tech and gotten off a little...worse for the wear. Anyways, this is all we need to finish this quest and return to the Grand Company.



Since we've got time left we keep exploring, though.



Eventually we find another lock and open it to find...



...another cutscene. The neat thing about FFXIV was that it inserted not just your character, but all of your party members into the cutscenes.

Boss music

From the ceiling drops a big spider/scorpion monster thing!



The Talking Tyrants draw their weapons!



The gist of the fight is that the boss will continually drop more and more babies into the fight, so Elesa takes the main enemy as Gladiator (think Paladin) and I as Marauder (think Warrior) draw the ire of the little guys through area of effect attacks.



Sometimes I manage to get Sargas into the damage radius too.



It doesn't take long to drop it.



And there's the device the dude at the gate was talking about. Its our quick and easy exit from the maw.



We also get a chest at the end of the battle, but the distribution is random an usually only one person gets anything.



This is the dagger in question.



Meeting back up with the gate guard he's mostly indifferent.



He is thankful for the Garlean intel at least, though he tells me to keep my mouth shut about it when walking around Gridania.



I guess Ul'dah and Gridania must have different definitions of "battle hardened"?



He blames the loss on Gridania not bothering to tell them that Garleans were wandering around the forest.



He's going to give Cid and his men the bit of Magitek we returned with to examine.



And there's my reward, another job well done.

Next time: They're like the Immortal Flames, only in Limsa Lominsa instead of Ul'dah

1/2/2013 - Deja Vu, Part 1



Maelstrom Command Music

Before becoming a full member of the Immortal Flames I'm required to have a probationary stint in the other two Grand Companies to make sure I don't regret my choice since they're totally different and not at all just window dressing on mostly the same thing. Perish the thought!

I get a decidedly unfriendly welcome at the front desk of the Maelstrom Command in Limsa Lominsa, though.



He quickly reverses his stance though and proceeds to talk up how great they are.



My first mission as a trainee member is to beat up some dude who's talking shit on the leader of the Maelstrom Command.



Wineport is in an area northeast of town, in an area that is so far out of the way there's little reason to go there unless you're a huge fan of the crappy rewards you get from the couple quests that might be there.



Long story short, the reporter claims his articles are prompting discussion from both sides in regards to the Maelstrom.



Not to say that he can't be persuaded via a bribe. Journalistic integrity!



Just like with the Immortal Flames, his bribe comes in the form of seeking out the prophet who speaks of the Seventh Umbral Era. Being a reporter, he's got a little more backstory on what exactly an Umbral Era entails.



He believes the prophet is, in fact, the cause of the Seventh Umbral Era itself and sends me out to capture him so he can get the exclusive scoop.



We find him once again spouting the same poem / warning about the Seventh Umbral Era.



I'm not here to heed the words of a prophet, though. I'm just trying to get paid.



He's not exactly happy about my refusal.



He once again summons a beast to battle me and runs off.



Once again its a complete pushover.



I'm approached by the random Limsa Lominsa cat lady from the Path of the Twelve quest after the battle, curious if I had been injured in the scuffle.



She offers an alternate story as to the mage's part in the Sixth Umbral Era to that of the reporter.



Then she splits into four, urges us to consider joining the cause in fighting the Seventh Umbral Era and then leaves.



The reporter didn't get what he wanted, but it was close enough for him to acquiesce to our request.

*"Smallclothes" are what FFXIV calls underwear, by the way.



The Maelstrom is pleased that I accomplished what they asked of me, but has no interest in the details. Regardless, this is enough to sign up for the probationary contract with them.



Limsa's group is far and away the most shady of Grand Companies. I blame the city's strong ties to piracy.



They're also super jerks about everything for being some pirates stranded on an island completely detached from the rest of the world.



I'm now a recruit for them, same as Ul'dah.



Long story short, the Garleans are trying to kill all the Kobold beastmen in the area so they can take over their strategic outposts before mounting an offensive against Limsa Lominsa. I'm to kill any of the wimpy Garleans that flee the main offensive with the Grand Company proper.



The battle itself is just a bit further north from where the previous one took place.



Like usual, I severely overpower the enemy forces.



I did manage to grab a Magitek Receiver (aka "a radio") off one of the Garleans, which impresses the Malestrom receptionist. They plan on handing it over to Cid's group in order to eventually decrypt the Garlean codes being used.

The next part of my mission is to drop the gizmo off with one of the Maelstrom operatives in the field.



The operative is in Coerthas, which is a mountainous region near The Black Shroud. The city within the region is Ishgard, home of the Dragoons (never implemented!).



The local beastmen are the Ixali, same as in Black Shroud. Their home stronghold is in Coerthas.



Giant toads also roam about the area. The one interesting (if annoying) thing about the toads in FFXIV is that they can draw in fleeing adventurers with their long sticky tongues.



Oh yeah? Well, they didn't have deus ex machina plot devices on their side! That's all I had to do out here, though, so its back to Limsa Lominsa.



Even though I immediately teleported back to town it seems Cid and his crew have already translated the code and revealed that the Garleans are setting up base in the raid dungeons, including Toto-Rak that I could have just told them about before going through all this trouble.



And with that I'm 2/3 of the way through my mini tours of the Grand Companies of Eorzea!

Next time: That guy again?

1/11/2013 - Deja Vu, Part 2



Order of the Twin Adder music

The final stop on our trial run of the Grand Companies is the Order of the Twin Adder in Gridania. Gridania is the hippie forest people who have to ask permission of the local elementals before wiping their butts (think Windurst if you're familiar with FFXI).



Long story short, they kept pretty isolated up until the Garleans began seriously pressing and now they're a lot less picky about who joins them as long as they're willing to help.



My first mission as a probationary member for these tree huggers is to search for some Ul'dah thaumaturge that is putting curses on trees.



And there's our mission blurb. The destination is out in Quarrymill which is...somewhere. The map sucks too much for me to care.



Goobbue riding music

We mount up our goobbue and head out!



Once again we're beset with a quest person talking shit on the current grand company.



He does have a point at least.



It turns out that the "curses" left on the trees were markings left by Urianger, so once again we set off to confront him.



Blah blah Seventh Umbral Era blah.



Even if you choose "yes" to join his cause he says you have to cast off the shadow first and still sics his monster on you. This time its a drake familiar.



Its completely non-threatening as usual.



Another local quest NPC shows up to congratulate me on my victory. This time its a haughty looking Lalafell with a monocle.



He shares info about how there was thought to be only six Umbral Era texts in existence to this point and how its weird that Urianger speaks of a seventh.



Whelp, that settles it, time to throw in the towel on all this Seventh Umbral Era nonsense if we can't stop it.



"But I, as an important NPC, believe that everything is not futile!"



With that our meeting here is done.



Once again our contact is disappointed that we couldn't bring back Urianger.



He does give a letter to deliver back to the Twin Adders promising not to curse any more trees, though.



The order is pleased with the results.



With that I'm eligible to sign up for my last required Twin Adder quest.

Blah blah blah you're hired.



Imperial Devices is the same quest as it was in Ul'dah and its optional, but I take it anyway.



The other available quest is to go guard some mages while they construct some sort of magical barrier.



Approaching the area in question we find some more (super weak) Garleans.



And then we steal their mail.



Before turning that in we go do another run of Toto-Rak.



Unlike the Ul'dahns, who had been drawn in forcibly, the Gridanian we were seeking walked right in the front door.



It was all in the best interest of the adorable moogles you see.



He also takes the time to explain that the reason the monsters are crazy is because of "screaming crystals" deep within the earth.



No idea what's going on here...



But at least the moogles are fine!



This time I receive a Magitek Recording Plate (hard drive?).




Moogles are always the comic relief.



Once again the dungeon ends with a giant spider / scorpion battle.



Mission complete, time to head back to the Adder's Nest.



Before that we redo the dungeon to get to another boss that...is the exact same fight but with a different name.



Turning in the first half of the letter quest.



It seems that the "Garlean" in question was one of their indoctrinated Ala Mhigans.



Our next destination is Little Ala Mhigo in Thanlan, a small outpost of refugees from the town.



Turning in the Gridanian version of Imperial Devices.



Once again this magitek dealie is going straight to Cid and the Ironworks.



Boom, reward.

Then it seems that I...forgot to take (or lost) any screenshots of the trip out to Little Ala Mhigo. Rest assured that the only result was a job well done and an the beginning of the final leg of the Grand Company initiations before being permanently locked into my choice. As a consolation, here is the text (quoted from a wiki entry):

So I guess that guy I killed was undercover and not really completely indoctrinated like the kids? Oops.

Next time: Who's the Boss?

1/24/2013 - Meet the Leaders of the Grand Companies



This is another slight hole in my lets play image directory, but the mission I'm on currently has me attending a rally with the three Grand Company leaders before committing to my GC choice. First up is Gridania, well, because I was already here.



This is Kan-E-Senna, sister to the kid we found with the moogles in our Toto-Rak dive. She has returned from the forest to lead the Gridanians against the coming perils of the Seventh Umbral Era.



Kan-E-Senna is like a conduit for the will of the forest elementals, and has returned to deliver their warnings.



The elementals have promised to protect the city since the Gridanians respect the forest, promising that Nophia (one of the goddesses of Eorzea) will not abandon them in their struggles.



The elemntals have told her that the Garleans are the root of the problems (duh) and that everyone needs to band together in the fight ahead.



Join our Grand Company please!



The locals are quite smitten. Me? I don't really buy into all this tree hugging crap.



According to this NPC, it seems like the creation of the GCs period was a response to the Seventh Umbral Era, which seems weird that we kept getting attacked by a prophet of it in the introductory missions.



I don't have to decide my allegiance yet, but Papalymo is sending me out to see just how bad things have gotten in the Black Shroud.



There's a clay golem waiting out in the forest, but its easily dispatched like everything else.



Next up is a mission for the Immortal Flames. Some members have reported being attacked by some sort of brigands and I am to go avenge them.



Oh look, its a bunch of dudes from Limsa's Grand company, the Maelstrom Command.



...or not. Turns out it was just a bunch of pirates in disguise.



Thancred proclaims his allegiance to Urianger and his cause.



Yes, the rumors of Urianger are quite...colorful.



Thancreed is able to get me some time with Urianger and this time he's much less inclined to attacking me with monsters.



Regardless, he mostly leaves me with a combination of cryptic and encouraging words.



Or it was the Maelstrom after all? I guess Thancred was just implying that they were fresh recruits straight off the pirate ship.



Might be jumping a bit to conclusions, seeing as how the Garleans are breathing down everyone's neck.



Now its time to become acquainted with the leader of the Immortal Flames, General Raubahn.

Unlike the midlanders normally seen around Ul'dah, the general is a highlander hyur of Ala Mhigan descent.



Despite Ul'dah's reputation in the other cities, he only seeks to stave off the advances of the Garleans, not to destroy then. Obviously going through the tragedy of Ala Mhigo's conquest has had a big part in forming his outlook on the conflict.



Or not? He really seems kind of torn between the tragedy of his youth and the pride of his current position.



And profit! Never forget that Ul'dah is a city founded on strong merchant trade.



He seems much more overtly charismatic than the previous leader of the Grand Company we met with in Gridania.



It seems that the general had rose through the ranks in the gladiator arena before taking up his current position, so his life has been full of nothing but difficulty.



The Immortal Flames are where I know I already want to be, but it won't allow me to sign up with them until I've at least heard out the Maelstrom leader as well.



Before leaving he mentions that another of Urianger's circle is headed to the cities, though he doesn't have the slightest clue where to.



Before heading to Limsa Lominsa I go back to Gridania to hear more from Urianger, this time about the previous Umbral Era.



Its all just speculation about the clay golems that appeared in the forest earlier, no real resolution either way to their meaning.



He also mentions that his master is headed here, in the hopes of helping us survive the coming Seventh Umbral Era.



Arriving in Limsa, I conveniently showed up just in time for a big speech by the Admiral of the Maelstrom Command.



But she's currently missing because she agreed to a meeting with some local pirates and met without any kind of weaponry on her person at their insistence. Of course they can't seen their own guards after her, but maybe the pirates wouldn't freak out over a random adventurer?



Once again I'm attacked by pirates. Once again they die like chumps.



We find the Admiral in the company of Urianger, completely unscathed.



She had met under the pretenses of talking with pirates because of Urianger's less than stellar reputation about Eorzea. Just like the other nations, she fesses up that it was Urianger and company who had urged her to reform the Grand Company in Limsa Lominsa as well.



With that I'm invited to join her at her inauguration ceremony.



Third time I've seen this dude today, first time he's apologized for being a dick.



With that its off to the ceremony!



Once again its an inspiring speech, this time about how great their naval force is and the imminent threat of the Garleans to their way of life.



The speech is thick with naval metaphors.



The speech doesn't sit well with the pirates in attendance, who swear allegiance to their captains alone.



To which the admiral responds by whipping out a hand axe...



...and throws it in the general direction of the offending pirates.

Once again, the leader of the Grand Company here comes off much more charismatic than the one in Gridania.



Once again we meet with the local mission NPC to hear their opinion of the Grand Company leader.



It seems that Y'shtola is also from the same place where Urianger came, studying something called the "Divine Chronicles," presumably about the Umbral Eras.



It seems their master is one known as "the Allseer" and he's here in search of a blade named Daybreak mentioned in the chronicles.

I can honestly say that I don't remember the search for Daybreak ever coming up again.



And with that the mission is done.

Next time: Permanent Member

2/5/2013 - New Ride



Before moving forward, there are a few optional missions for each of the cities.



After beating up some Limsa Grand Company people they inform me that their leader has ran off into northern Thanlan somewhere.



Once a pirate, always a pirate I suppose. We find the leader and his cronies having stolen some goods from a local merchant.



The Immortal Flames shows up to break up the racket.



The pirates are less than impressed.



The Immortal Flames turn around by calling them worse beasts than the Amalj'aa, to which everyone draws their blades and prepares to throw down. But then Cid steps in and ruins everyone's fun, like usual.



Turns out that the stolen goods in question are capable of burning the entire region of Thanlan to the ground if they were to be hit with an errant spark. Seems a bit...excessive. Why not just dump a couple boxes of this on the front doorstep of the Garleans if its that powerful?



Once again, the pirates aren't impressed.



Blah blah blah get along or the meteor is going to smash you.



Cid mentions that the aether (think the lifestream from VII, but with less spirits of dead girlfriends) is being manipulated by some unforseen force. /foreshadowing



His words are convincing enough to send the Maelstrom Command back to their ship without the booty.



Cid is exacerbated to see that I'm associated with the Maelstrom Command as well, but still would like a word with me alone.



Cid explains that the screwed up aether paths are somehow related to the falling moon / meteor Dalamud, potentially maybe.



"Why should I explain to a simple minded adventurer the science of aetheric manipulation?"



In a (dun dun dun) shocking reveal Cid tells us that he and his colleagues at the Ironworks are really defectors from the Garlean empire! Who would have thought the most advanced mechanical mind in Eorzea would have come from the...most advanced mechanical nation in Eorzea?



Cid mentions that he swears no loyalty to any of the nations of Eorzea, only an intense hatred for what the Garleans are doing. Before going he offers me some inspirational words about my future within the Grand Companies, whichever I choose to settle down with.



Returning to the Maelstrom Command they offer me permanent membership but...screw that. Who wants to hang out with a bunch of pirates anyway?



Returning to the Immortal Flames, commander Aubrey spends a good amount of time complaining about Cid and the Ironworks not wanting to pledge loyalty to Ul'dah and their vast sources of funding.

Then I'm told to go search for someone they had hired to furnish them with reports on Dalamud.



It seems that something is amiss within the Ironworks ranks.



Aren't you all technically Garleans?

Anyway, they caught him stealing documents and funneling information. The minute he suspected he had been found out he fled.



We find out target southwest of Camp Horizon, but he went down with little effort after becoming aggressive.

Yes? He just friggin told me dude.



Cid shows up conveniently, to confront Charledore about the meteor information he has stolen for the empire.



If Charledore is to be believed, the entire Garlean plot is to rid the world of the eikons (if you remember, a derogatory word referring to the primals or summoned monsters) through Eorzea's destruction. He name drops Ifrit, Leviathan and Titan when doing this, even though only Ifrit was ever implemented in FFXIV's original version.



He proclaims his loyalty to the empire...



...then throws his body from a cliff. I guess that's one way to plug up a leak.



Rather than reveal his secrets in the mountains where we were alone, Cid once again insists on the airship landing. He goes on and on about his history with the Garleans, even though me mostly already told me this in Limsa.



It seems that they were able to recover all of the information Charledore was attempting to smuggle as well. Cid mutters a bit about Nael van Darnus, the white raven, being involved in all of this, but doesn't really get into the details.



Before returning to the Immortal Flames (since that is where I intend to pledge), I head out to Gridania for their Grand Company's final mission before being forced to choose.



According to the elementals of the forest, Dalamud did not appear there of its own power, but was drawn by some destructive force sent to the skies some moons back.



My task is to meet up with an undercover Gridanian who has infiltrated the Garlean ranks at Ala Mhigo.



Arriving at my destination, I'm attacked by another weak monster.



Larger arachnids come out of the woodwork, but my contact appears and blinds the monsters with a flash bomb of some sort causing them to retreat.



Everyone loves Cid!



I mean, really love him.



Cid is pretty much used to it, though.



Arthur freaks out a bit again, and the inexplicably faints. Cid and the Ironworks people ask me me to meet them back at Gridania. They leave on their airship without me even though they could have given me a ride, dicks.



Arthur has painted a dire picture of the current state of affairs in Ala Mhigo, which honestly isn't surprising at this point.



It seems that Arthur didn't know of anything being shot to the skies, though, so no more information on that front. Cid ends once again muttering about a Nael van Darnus.



With that, I return to Ul'dah and sign up with the Immortal Flames right away. Any more time with those forest hippies and I might have just died.



And with that I'm private third class with the Immortal Flames. Most of the rank ups with the flames involve simply trading flame seals for the next level, but occasional ones require doing a short mission. Ranking up increases the amount of flame seals I can hold as well as opening up new missions and items to trade for with seals.



First things first is to buy some chocobo insurance so that I can have my own chocobo, though. And unlike FFXI it doesn't take a 5+ hour quest to get!



I can't get my bird there, though, so I head over to the local chocobo stables.



Yes, very.



There's no difference between everyone's chocobos beyond some cosmetic changes. Anyone that buys the insurance gets the same speed bird.



The banners of your particular Grand Company adorn the sides of the personal chocobos.

You even get to name them, though I don't believe this is ever shown to anyone else ever.



Hey, come on now.



He also gives me a whistle to call for my chocobo at any time. Well, any time but within a dungeon of some sort, or in town.



I love how my character cheeses for the camera as we exit town.



The one other thing I got for signing up for the Immortal Flames was the Flame Salute emote. Exciting.

Next time: The White Raven Appears

titan was technically in the game, even though they never gave him any animations and he was about lv 125

leviathan only made a few cameos in the limsa guildquests and limsa opening cutscene, sorta like how ifrit showed up in the path quests

2/12/2013 - Of Course It Kills With Fire, Duh



It seems that the next mission, "It Kills With Fire," has something to do with the primal Ifrit. If you'll recall we already had one battle (of words!) with the primal before in the Path of the Twelve mission.



The meteor Dalamud seems to be powering up Ifrit for whatever reason and its our job to get out there and investigate. For whatever reason by "investigate" they mean "murder a god," because whatever research they're doing requires us to kill him.



Before rushing headlong into this we must speak with the sage Louisoix. He's currently residing in Gridania so we've got a bit of legwork ahead of us (or at least a teleport).



The mission briefing.



It seems that Louisoix is that elder sage said to be heading toward Eorzea from the earlier missions, as Thancred has already filled him in on our exploits to this point.



He leads the Circle of Knowing, a group dedicated to preventing the impending catastrophe.



It seems that when summoned, primals consume the very aether of the land. This same aether is what powers the teleportation crystals spread throughout the world, as well as supports life in general. Aether is limited, though, and the continued presence of the primals is sure to run it dry somewhere in the near future.



Before fighting, though, I must gather six echo crystals (one of each cardinal element) for Louisoix.



This involves hunting down six (thankfully quickly respawning) Notorious Monsters spread throughout the world.



The list of monsters in question.



Killing the monsters drops the crystal.



Really the fights are pretty simple, and severely under level of where our group is.



We quickly clean house.



Returning to Louisoix, there are a series of adventurers that talk shit on my group and tell us that we're much too weak to face Ifrit.



Handing off the crystals, Louisoix uses them to create a key to breach the gate toward Ifrit.



First things first, more busywork! Gotta go hunt down more items for Louisoix.



Ganging up on him works out pretty well in our favor. Again, to Gridania!



Yeah, I think we've got this old man.



Its kind of neat that they give an in-universe explanation as to why there are time limits on the fight and restrictions on how often you can do it.



Before heading in, another group falls from the portal defeated. Louisoix takes this as an opportunity to talk up how difficult the task before us is again.



And with that we're transported to the Bowl of Embers.

Entering the battlefield, it appears to be some sort of eclipse...



...which then catches on fire.



And, obviously, Ifrit bursts forth.



He's a bit more imposing than the last time we saw him.



Also, he's not exactly happy.



Ifrit Battle Music - Primal Judgment

Pretty standard battle here, keep buffs up and hit hard and fast.



At our level it really doesn't take a whole lot.



He falls pretty quickly to our assault.



The group shares a post-battle victory pose.



Then we are immediately set upon by the White Raven himself, Nael van Darnus.



He is impressed with our victory and asks for a name.



You can either give it to him or withhold it like some kind of hard-ass.



I share my name, though and he returns the favor.



At this point in time he seems to think we are working toward the same cause, since we just killed a primal (or "eikon") and that is his overall goal in his invasion.



He claims we are without help unless we are to accept the Garlean Empire.



He claims that the Garlean expansion is not conquering, but rather simply bringing other nations under its protective wings.



He then begins reciting the same ominous poem that Urianger did when we first met.



For whatever reason he thinks we haven't heard the prophecy before.





He's even a smart-ass about it, brandishing his gunhalberd.



He makes it pretty clear that Dalamud is set to fall upon the nations of Eorzea in attempt to purge it of its taint. He does...something with his weapon that breaks the aetherial gate's connection, thrusting us back into Gridania.



It seems that whatever we did it proved that Ifrit was able to absorb some of the aether via Dalamud's influence.



Even if we didn't manage to kill him? I don't know, he seemed pretty dead after we got done with him.



It seems that beating Ifrit didn't seem to have any affect on Dalamud itself either.



The flame commander is rightfully worried about van Darnus's appearance at the battlefield as well.

Another mission well done!



And I got enough seals to rank up again.



The next mission on the plate is to stop a Garlean advancement.



The mission briefing.



The mission is simply to disrupt one of the imperial patrols in the area.



Its a small group of imperials, easily dealt with.



Yup, super weak.



The slightly stronger commander shows up, and I just have to use an item given to me by the field commander to disrupt his magitek powers.



Of course the guy was working for van Darnus.



Now its time to use my neglected Echo powers!



I find myself in some kind of crystal sanctuary, with Nael van Darnus in pursuit of Cid.



He seeks Cid's help in purging the world of the eikon taint.



It seems the power of Meteor was said to have died with the ancient Allag civilization, but Cid knows quite a bit about it being such a scholarly guy.



Cid's father was the previous researcher on the subject of meteor, but even had had yet to decipher its secrets.



His father was also killed during his service of the empire, leaving Cid more than a little justification for his attempted defection.



The entire research facility was destroyed in an instant when dabbling in the art of Meteor. Whether this was a misfire of the spell or what is left unkown.



Knowing what happened there, Cid is less than enthusiastic about unleashing such a power again.



Such nepotism in the ranks of the Garleans.



Cid still isn't having any of this shit.





Seeing he can't be reasoned with, van Darnus goes in for the kill.



Somehow he grapple hooks himself to safety under the ledge.



The Garleans can't see him and presume him dead.



Like usual, people outside of the Path of the Twelve just don't understand.



Returning to Ul'dah, Cid admits that what I witnessed was an event from his past.

Yeah, I get it. Meteor is bad news.



It seems that the root of the issue is a Lunar Transmitter, assumedly something used to control meteor's trajectory.



Cid says that the Empire's true plans are still being built up, and attacks like the one I just routed are surely just a distraction while they finish enacting their schemes.

Regardless, this mission is done and I receive my reward.

Next time: Magitek Death

2/15/2013 - Imperials Get Serious



Despite the secrecy, it seems rumors have gotten out about the Garlean meteor project. As if the giant red ball falling from the sky wasn't hint enough.



As such, I've been drafted into some kind of task related to the current unrest. I won't know what my mission is at this point and instead have to meet up with a contact at the Royal Promenade.



It seems the local syndicate has caught word of some new Garlean juggernaut is on the loose.



And, as usual, its my job to go battle it as recon.



They choose me for the role because I'm outside the influence of the high rolling lobbyists in the Ul'dah syndicate.



Not sure how much bleeding a juggernaut can do, but will do boss!



Arriving near the ferry docks to the western edge of Thanlan, I find a group of people knocked out / killed by something.



What's that?



That's...not good.



Boss Battle Music

I barely even lay a hand on the damn thing before it runs me through with its giant drill arms.

Back to the drawing board!



And by drawing board I mean shouting in town for an hour or more to get some help for the fight.



With even a little bit of healing the battle goes a lot smoother.



And with someone to heal me I can really go all out.



And its down!



It seems the target of the Juggernauts was the nearby dock, where they managed to do some damage despite my help.



It seems all the dock workers were able to do was run them off, not kill them, so score one for me and my rag-tag team I guess.



Some of the boats aren't doing so hot, though.



My accolades are accounted for by Raubahn before being dismissed.



Another job well done!

Next time: The Wind Stirs

This page just crashed my browser

Sorry! I guess I should be putting less than the maximum allowable number of images in my posts, wasn't aware there was a problem since I've got a lot of RAM.