-
Welcome to Talking Time's third iteration! If you would like to register for an account, or have already registered but have not yet been confirmed, please read the following:
- The CAPTCHA key's answer is "Percy"
- Once you've completed the registration process please email us from the email you used for registration at percyreghelper@gmail.com and include the username you used for registration
Once you have completed these steps, Moderation Staff will be able to get your account approved.
May you ever walk in the Light of the Crystal! Let's Play Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
- Thread starter TyrMcDohl
- Start date
So, yeah, effectively, Nero's a deserter from Garlemald. During his wandering, he caught wind of the Crystal Tower venture. But HOW?
Cid ain't buying it.
Entry to the Tower is only permitted by Allagan royalty and a select few others. In Nero's own research, he found that only those of royal blood can open the tower.
Clones, in other words.
So the Baldesion story was a lie.
The party departs, but Cid has words for Nero.
He says he looks forward to working with them.
Nero, you're skating on thin ice.
Doga suggests bringing Rammbroes out here.
He reiterates his apology for misleading Rammbroes about the Students of Baldesion ruse, and confesses that the two of them are copies of people who once existed long ago.
This is going to be a long story for them. A remaster of Unei's theme from Final Fantasy III begins to play. The Allagan Empire had long since reached its zenith when their kind came into existence. Back then, the Crystal Tower was the pride of Allag. Parents took their children to it, that they might learn how the energy of the sun was channeled to produce their great prosperity.
Over generations, Allag began to decline. One technologist made it his mission to restore the empire. His name was Amon, and he believed that a strong ruler was necessary, and in his twisted belief, sought to resurrect Allag's founder.
As a part of his work, Amon created clones of the emperor's descendants. And while the Unei and Doga are not those original clones, they are yet the latest in that line.
Historians would assume that this second Emperor Xande was simply a namesake, but with this information, it would seem that the two were one and the same, through cloning.
Emperor Xande was ambitious, and sought to bring the whole of the world to heel under Allag.
Nero, stop doing that.
Cid thanks his lucky stars that Xande is dead, twice over for thousands of years.
...oof, yeah, you set yourself up for that one, Cid.
A miscalculation of using both the energies of the sun and Dalamud, or what we now know as Bahamut, caused a massive surge of energy that shook the land violently: the Fourth Umbral Calamity.
Within the tower, however, Amon was able to use powerful temporal magicks and halt the flow of time within, placing everyone, as well as the tower itself, in a form of temporal stasis.
And so, Xande has been sitting in the Crystal Tower for five years now, plotting his conquest anew, and being corrupted by darkness.
The original Doga and Unei clones sought to stop Xande's ambition, and that has carried down to the clones that now stand before them.
Cid flippantly says that Satznswys just seems to wander in to world-threatening catastrophes. Doga is relieved that Satznswys agrees to help.
Rammbroes admits that it would hurt to lose all the knowledge of the Crystal Tower, but the safety of the world comes first.
Oh, yeah, she'll get right on that.
There's an interesing aside that we don't see with Cid and Nero in the background as G'raha approaches Doga and Unei with something that is clearly weighing on him since this revelation. Doga says that he inherited the Allagan Eye from his father. The clones are sterile, so they can't bear children. He says that they call it the Royal Eye, owing to the fact that it only manifests in those of royal blood.
So, with that, Satznswys assembles a team to climb the tower.
Syrcus Tower has, outside of Castrum Meridianum and Praetorium, been the ARR dungeon that has suffered the most from item level power creep. The bosses here have mechanics, and those mechanics can be done, but the penalty for missing those mechanics is generally very light, with one or two exceptions that I will note.
The first boss, Scylla, generates AOEs with the staves that she spawns, you could kill the staves, but their AOEs are all telegraphed, and are easily ignored if you aren't standing in the bad areas, like donut-shaped damage fields, or linear attacks. She will tether random players with elemental balls, each of which needs to be handled in different ways. Lightning tethers need to be taken to the three pillars on the outside of the arena, or they will detonate and damage the entire alliance. Ice balls will unavoidably freeze your character in place, as you will see in the video. Players that get the fire tether need to draw the ball into a frozen character, for two benefits: first, it will end the frozen status on the ice victim early, and spawn a puddle of water, which will dampen the damage from Scylla's raid-wide Ancient Flare attack.
The second boss is Glasya Labolas. Never once in my FFXIV career ever seen this fight be anything more than a DPS race that ends before his actual mechanics can start. Just don't step near the Clockwork Square enemies, or you'll be trapped in them.
The third boss is Amon, Xande's chief scientist, and he's got quite a lot going on, including a redux of the King Behemoth boss from the Labyrinth of the Ancients. First, his Experiments will crawl toward him. If any of them reach Amon, then they will explode and cause status effects on the entire alliance, either Pacification or Silence, which will completely neutralize a physical fighter or magic user, respectively. Next, he will spawn strong monsters called Kum Kums. At the same time, he'll pull a similar trick to Scylla and tether players with a purple ball. If this ball hits the player, then they will be affected with the Mini status effect, and their combat parameters will tank severely. If you get a purple tether, drag it so it'll collide with the Kum Kums or the snake adds that appear later, and they will shrink instead, making them easy pickings. Sometimes, Amon will polymorph players into flame toads, locking off all their abilities except for a fire breath skill, which they can use to thaw players that will be frozen solid. Eventually, Amon will freeze three players and begin to cast Curtain Call, his ultimate attack. Everyone else needs to hide behind one of the frozen players to survive the lethal damage from Curtain Call.
The final boss is Xande, and he has a few mean tricks up his sleeve, but can be avoided or mitigated if you know what you're looking for. First are the yellow circles that cast Aetherochemical Explosion. Every circle needs to have a player standing in it when it detonates, or it will damage everyone in the battle. Periodically, at certain damage thresholds, Xande will leave the battle and call several meteors to fall from the sky, multiple small ones, and one very large one. You need only burn these adds down to prevent the party from wiping. When he comes back from these, he'll target three players with some scary-looking circle AOEs. This is actually damage-split field, and will damage for about 10k damage, split evenly among everyone standing in a field. Just don't stand in two fields at once, and you'll be fine. These will also spawn levitation fields to negate the follow-up Ancient Quaga, which will likely kill anyone on the ground that isn't at full health.
And so, having defeated Xande...
Yeah, yeah, she knows she's awesome. Doga hopes that Xande's legacy may finally be undone.
Uh, Nero, why are you suited up like that?
The side-eye is palpable. Unei says there's two ways to go about sealing off the Syrcus Tower: isolating it from the outside world, or cripple its ability to produce energy.
Uh, that looks rather ominous.
The nature of that power is an army of voidsent. So, yeah, something we don't want just laying around.
Nero's back there wandering around with his little tricorder-thing.
And he loses it.
Yeah, yeah, she knows she's awesome. Doga hopes that Xande's legacy may finally be undone.
Uh, Nero, why are you suited up like that?
The side-eye is palpable. Unei says there's two ways to go about sealing off the Syrcus Tower: isolating it from the outside world, or cripple its ability to produce energy.
Uh, that looks rather ominous.
The nature of that power is an army of voidsent. So, yeah, something we don't want just laying around.
Nero's back there wandering around with his little tricorder-thing.
And he loses it.
That's not good.
Nor is this.
And this ain't good either. Echo time!
Xande has just finished conquering the land of Meracydia, but something weighs on his mind: the memory of his death and rebirth. He experienced complete and utter oblivion before being brought back to life by Amon's tampering in the gods' domain.
Back in the waking world, things seem tense. Clones continue to appear.
And G'raha has his own flavor of ice cream headache to deal with, with the Royal Eye.
Cid and Nero can hold their own in a fight, but with a seemingly endless stream of clones appearing, things look bleak.
Back at the camp, there's a tense mood, as things seem awfully bleak.
At least nothing else came through, but how likely is that to remain the truth, Rammbroes wonders.
Though voidsent can enter this world, men entering the void have never been documented, and Rammbroes fears the worst may have happened to their friends and Nero.
G'raha wants to help the two of them fulfill their mission, having borne it for thousands of years.
He says that it's something to do with a memory that he can't quite recall. His father told him that the truth of the Royal Eye rests with Allag, and that one day, he will find the truth.
So NOAH's purpose now is to figure out a way to pierce that rift, get in there, and rescue their friends. And Nero.
So while the Ironworks and the Sons of Saint Coinach's greatest minds set to work on how to get after them, there's little help Satznswys can be getting in their way. So that's where we'll leave things with the Crystal Tower for now.
Next time, Satznswys returns to the Rising Stones to address the mysteries brought about by Leviathan's summoning.
--------------------
Heavensward job tally:
1 - Summoner, 5 votes
2 - Dark Knight, 4 votes
3 - Ninja, 2.5 votes
One small tidbit that raiders at the time picked up on during the first of the Syrcus quests is that Unei and Doga are wearing alternately dyed versions of the High Allagan gear...something that could only be obtained by raiding old Allagan facilities like a certain set of Binding Coils.
Hello all, and welcome back to the Let's Play! Last time, NOAH's new allies, the Allagan clones Doga and Unei climbed the Syrcus Tower and with Satznswys, defeated the ancient emperor of Allag, Xande. However, a rift into the void opened up and swallowed the two of them, along with unlikely frenemy Nero tol Scaeva. From there, an entity that Xande called "the Cloud of Darkness" threatened to swallow all of the light of this world.
Eh, I'm sure Cid and G'raha can handle that for now. Satznswys has something else on her plate today: the mysteries that came about from the Lord of the Whorl's summoning.
In her solar, Minfilia is clearly troubled by the disappearance of the island of Val and the Students of Baldesion.
Minfilia brings up the aetheric fluctuations that were caused by King Moggle Mog XII - long may his floof be floofy - or the appearance thereof.
The fluctuations never diminished after Satznswys defeated the Good King, so there might still be a primal afoot in the Twelveswood.
F'lhaminn interrupts.
Minfilia says she'll hear their words. Her mother is kind, but pragmatic: Revenant's Toll can't support another band of refugees after taking in the Domans, but Minfilia is firm on at least hearing them out.
The Ala Mhigan speaking for the refugees says that, like the Domans, they're willing to work. Minfilia wants to know what's driven them here.
There is indeed work in Ul'dah, but it's of the sort that would soil the soul, rather than soil the hands, as he puts it. The Immortal Flames do what they can, but their hands are tied by the political mess that is the Syndicate.
Minfilia tries to be delicate, but the facts are what they are. The Scions have some clout, but their mission is to deal with threats like the primals, and are equipped for that. Widespread poverty and refugees are something that they are not fully equipped to handle. So she turns them down.
It hurts, yeah.
Tataru speaks up, having come out from the Rising Stones.
Oh no!
...seeing a lot of this particular stretch of main scenario quest, both along 2.2 and now, is eerily prescient with all the stuff going on in the real world right now.
Eh, I'm sure Cid and G'raha can handle that for now. Satznswys has something else on her plate today: the mysteries that came about from the Lord of the Whorl's summoning.
In her solar, Minfilia is clearly troubled by the disappearance of the island of Val and the Students of Baldesion.
Minfilia brings up the aetheric fluctuations that were caused by King Moggle Mog XII - long may his floof be floofy - or the appearance thereof.
The fluctuations never diminished after Satznswys defeated the Good King, so there might still be a primal afoot in the Twelveswood.
F'lhaminn interrupts.
Minfilia says she'll hear their words. Her mother is kind, but pragmatic: Revenant's Toll can't support another band of refugees after taking in the Domans, but Minfilia is firm on at least hearing them out.
The Ala Mhigan speaking for the refugees says that, like the Domans, they're willing to work. Minfilia wants to know what's driven them here.
There is indeed work in Ul'dah, but it's of the sort that would soil the soul, rather than soil the hands, as he puts it. The Immortal Flames do what they can, but their hands are tied by the political mess that is the Syndicate.
Minfilia tries to be delicate, but the facts are what they are. The Scions have some clout, but their mission is to deal with threats like the primals, and are equipped for that. Widespread poverty and refugees are something that they are not fully equipped to handle. So she turns them down.
It hurts, yeah.
Tataru speaks up, having come out from the Rising Stones.
Oh no!
...seeing a lot of this particular stretch of main scenario quest, both along 2.2 and now, is eerily prescient with all the stuff going on in the real world right now.
Off she goes to Ul'dah.
Heading to the Quicksand, Alphinaud seems well enough to be up and about.
The riot is just a symptom of a larger problem.
So yeah, this has been a powder keg for a long time coming, and the riot was the spark.
It certainly is a mess.
The two head over to chat with Raubahn.
Alphinaud wonders how the refugees who started the riot got so organized. A lot of them were armed with more dangerous implements than butcher's knives or pitchforks. He doubts that seeing the Domans turned away from Ul'dah would have motivated the Ala Mhigan refugees to purchase weapons instead of food.
Raubahn cuts him off, and says that order must be restored. the root cause will have to wait.
Alphinaud, I like the way you think. He wants Satznswys to check the surrounding settlements in Ul'dah for the instigators.
Commander Swift has a lead: a camp called Lost Hope, outside of Black Brush Station.
Following up with a few of the refugees, Satznswys finally gets on the trail of a merchant who gave them weapons, and sent them on their merry way.
Despite how awful this looks, Satznswys isn't actually killing them, but boxing ears to knock some sense into them.
No merchant, though, and the refugee suggests that he might've headed to another tent village outside Ul'dah.
Swift has Satznswys look in to another lead within the city.
I really have no commentary for this scene. It basically encapsulates all the problems that have been brought up and about with this whole refugee crisis.
The merchant flees the city.
Huh. Interesting. But Teledji Adeledji was the only member of the Syndicate who advocated on the Doman refugees' behalf? What does he stand to gain by destabilizing the city?
...I mean, I just said that, Alphinaud.
Raubahn brings up some legislation to annex Carteneau, and make room for permanent settlements.
Behind the scenes, this is the justification for the introduction of PVP battlefields: the three Grand Companies competing in joint excercises for training purposes.
By putting this together, Teledji Adeledji would get access to all that Allagan stuff that sits in Carteneau.
Alphinaud raises the question again: why? What's so special about the ruins at Carteneau that he would risk his political position and charges of treason?
This might explain why Nael van Darnus chose to drop Dalamud on Carteneau: to destroy the only thing capable of destroying Bahamut.
If someone were to restore Omega, though, it'd be similar to the Garleans taking hold of Ultima Weapon all over again, only worse.
I mean, playing second fiddle to someone else when you're talking about political players this big, who can really say what any person is capable of?
Raubahn hears a noise outside the chamber.
It's likely that whatever spy was out there is on their way to tell Teledji of this secret meeting.
The four of them swiftly adjourn.
When it rains, it pours, eh?
Back at the Waking Sands, Minfilia is glad to hear the only wounds Alphinaud suffered were to his pride.
The Seedseer sasys that while the elementals have told her that the Lord of Levin has returned, there is no outward sign from the Sylphlands that anything has changed.
If any were to directly engage the sylphs, it's likely that Ramuh would make his presence known. Swiftly.
If they had been working on it, though, wouldn't Yda and Papalymo have seen it coming?
The sylphs had called Ramuh once before, in the Garlean incursion.
Papalymo says that were it not for sudden influx of strangers to the Black Shroud, the status quo may have been maintained. But the recent riots in Ul'dah has caused refugees to seek safety in the Twelveswood.
Papalymo suggests that Satznswys, with her befriending of the sylphs of Little Solace, might be able to set things right.
Y'shtola is dubious.
Traveling to Gridania, Satznswys checks in with Commander Heuloix once again. Though his men stand ready to battle the primal if it comes to it, he can think of no one else better suited to treat with the Lord of Levin. But first, Kan-E-Senna wants a word with Satznswys.
Not long after the elemental spoke, an emissary from Little Solace came.
While they can't be sure where exactly Ramuh was summoned, logic dictates that it's likely deep in the Sylphlands.
Since Satznswys is blessed of the Echo, and thus immune to the enslaving force of a primal, she would ask that she serve as Gridania's emissary to Lord Ramuh.
And yet, it's not just the Twelveswood in danger: all of Eorzea stands to lose should Satznswys fail, just like with Leviathan.
Don't mind the flying whale. That's a mogstation mount, that two players can ride on.
The Adder officer explains the plan: first, find where the Primal is. Thrashing about looking for Him is likely only to bring around the conflict they wish to avoid. Yda and the Scions are going to use their Sharlayan-designed goggles to look for aetheric activity.
Great.
So these are the kinds of shenanigans you might find yourself getting up to, working on the daily sylph tribe quests. They're only slightly less annoying here than in those quests.
Yeah, out with it, man.
More sylph tribe quest mess.
At least she's found the real Yda.
Well, this is new.
Press X to doubt.
Y'shtola says "good enough".
Have I gotten the point across that the Sylphlands are lousy with enemies, all hanging close to your quest objectives? This is what it's like roaming around here.
At last.
Well, hello!
Pleased to meet you, Mister Of Levin.
Aw, beans.
The duty tile says "Hard" but it is, in fact, the normal difficulty. The basic thing to know is to kill the Grey Arbiter adds that spawn. There are a couple of scary things to be aware of. The first is Rolling Thunder, which will tether two players together, and deal continuous damage. In order to clear this tether, one of the two players needs to collect three lightning orbs to get the Surge Protection buff and negate it, which will also reduce the amount of damage they take. The buff icon even has the standard electrical schematic symbol for an electrical ground!
Ramuh can stun players for a very long 60 seconds, which can be removed by baiting a Thunderstorm circle near the afflicted player by an ally.
As mentioned before, the team needs to kill the adds before he casts Judgment Bolt, his ultimate attack. If there are any Arbiters left alive, then the Judgment Bolt damage is lethal.
And?
Yeah, Satznswys is made of pure awesome.
Hi, Urianger. I guess you were hiding in a bush somewhere nearby.
Yep, time to go home and regroup.
But first, accolades from Kan-E-Senna and the Scions!
Kan-E-Senna refers to the stuff going down in Carteneau, and the ever-increasing number of refugees coming to Eorzea.
"As the scars of the Calamity begin to fade, so too does our sense of common purpose." I mean, it's a bad situation, but the only way to change it is to take action.
All in a day's work, ma'am.
Later, after the Scions depart...
If there is an answer, we are not privy to it.
We must needs return to the Rising Stones.
Alright, everyone team meeting.
Yeah, screw that guy. Urianger reviews what they know: the Ascians are eternal beings, and physical destruction is temporary. He and Minfilia have been working on a project to destroy the Ascians utterly. Urianger believes they've come up with an answer.
Y'shtola describes the shift as a sudden and dramatic change, and she almost didn't even need the goggles to know that something was up.
Alright kids, it's time for Basic Aetheric Life Mechanics with Urianger and Minfilia!
The visual aid of Ifrit nom nom noms the crystals, and is defeated. It leaves no physical form behind, but seeps back into the great mass of aether in the world.
Urianger categorizes this as a soul that does not dissipate on death of the flesh.
They bring up Thancred's possession by Lahabrea, a subject he's averse to bringing back up.
So, in summation, they need to find a way to trap an Ascian's soul upon destroying their physical form, and then destroy that.
I'm sure they'll get that done somehow. Urianger takes his leave to converse with the sages of Sharlayan, and work with them to develop a means to do this thing.
Their search may indeed bear fruit, and survivors, and he tells Minfilia to take heart, and hope that her friend is alright.
MEANWHILE...
Ominous!
Ooh, a present?
Oh, darn. Significantly less cool, but appreciated all the same.
Minfilia as well expresses her own gratitude for Satznswys's unfailing loyalty at answering her call.
But, they can't let their guard down. Peace and safety are hard won, even harder to maintain. Especially with the Ascians causing who knows what kind of havoc.
Oh, hello Alphinaud. Seems things in Ul'dah have cooled off, but are still at a low boil. But now to new matters.
Slafborn need help? Okay, sure.
Ominous!
Ooh, a present?
Oh, darn. Significantly less cool, but appreciated all the same.
Minfilia as well expresses her own gratitude for Satznswys's unfailing loyalty at answering her call.
But, they can't let their guard down. Peace and safety are hard won, even harder to maintain. Especially with the Ascians causing who knows what kind of havoc.
Oh, hello Alphinaud. Seems things in Ul'dah have cooled off, but are still at a low boil. But now to new matters.
Slafborn need help? Okay, sure.
Rescue!
Slafborn says that he's seen Tataru act a bit pensive, and suggests that Satznswys check in on her.
While the Scions do receive a lot of aid from the Eorzean Alliance, and Alphinaud and Alisaie do bankroll a lot of their more expensive endeavors, Tataru more and more frequently finds her balance sheets in the red.
I mean, I think Satznswys could make you one pretty easily.
Ah well.
If you want something done right, it seems.
F'hlaminn is concerned for Tataru's safety, and asks Satznswys to check in on her.
Here, you have to call Tataru's name in the /say channel to try and find her.
Hold on, Tataru!
Phew, close call.
Back in the Rising Stones, Tataru is relieved.
Seems the kiddos want to hear all about Satznswys's adventures.
The kids ask Satznswys to train them.
Hoary Boulder and Coultenet come along, and make formal introductions, since they haven't had a chance to since joining up officially.
Instead of having the kiddos fight giant toads that are the size of a morbol, and morbols the size of giant toads, Hoary has another proposal: a sparring match between him and Satznswys.
So this part of the story is a little slice-of-life, of what the Scions might get up to when there aren't life-or-death situations to contend with.
Been a while since we've seen one of these.
Seems Yda overheard, and brought out a cheering section.
Hoary Boulder even whips out Paladin Techniques like Iron Will, and Hallowed Ground!
Oh hey, Alphinaud. He smiles wryly. "'Guardian of Eorzea'...Yes, that is a most fitting title."
How could she forget? You were making snide remarks next to her the entire time...for all three of them.
He admits that his first impressions of Eorzea were less than favorable: dire problems every which way, and the attempts at solutions haphazard and half-hearted. He half-expected some Eorzeans to cast their lot with Gaius, even before he had a primal-powered super weapon on his side. If not for his desire to continue his grandfather's legacy, he might've abandoned Eorzea.
Aww...that's so sweet.
This shot juxtaposed with Hoary Boulder standing up after the trouncing Satznswys just gave him emblematic of what gives him hope for Eorzea's future.
Yeah, given the primal fighting, keeping peace between the nations, taking in refugees, stopping the Ascian menace, and keeping Tataru in currant tarts, the Scions are stretched pretty thin. Alphinaud proposes a secondary organization to work alongside the Scions. A force with no nation, no philosophy, no ideology. Who can go where they're needed, fighting not for country, not for government, but for...wait, I mixed up the speech for Big Boss's. Now I'm picturing Alphinaud with an eye patch, a horn of shrapnel protruding from his forehead, and a Cuban cigar.
Alphinaud suggests something akin to a Grand Company for the realm of Eorzea itself, to be directed against threats that no one nation could handle on their own. The logistics of it have stymied the Eorzean alliance from pulling the trigger on it. And the longer they deliberate, the less of a stomach they have to do it.
To assuage fears of a private military company, or a real Outer Heaven or Zanzibar Land-like problem, Alphinaud would place this company under Minfilia's command. It would be subordinate to the Scions of the Seventh Dawn.
So while Alphinaud handles the red tape, Satznswys is the recruiting face of this new organization. Their first stop is Limsa Lominsa, to gain the Admiral's approval.
Recruiting is slim pickings in Limsa Lominsa, probably with a lot of people already signed on with privateer crews.
We do catch up with Riol, formerly of the Company of Heroes, who's more than happy to sign up.
Catching up with Alphinaud, he was able to get the Admiral to buy off on the proposal. Next, they head for Gridania.
As before, Alphinaud goes to talk with Kan-E-Senna, and Satznswys goes around Gridania to spread the recruitment word.
Laurentius, the Wood Wailer who was passing information to the Garleans during Satznswys's search for the sylph elder Frixio, is sitting in Mih Khetto's Amphitheater, having recently been released from prison. When he catches wind of Alphinaud's proposal, he sees it as a chance for a fresh start, and signs up on the spot.
Along the way, Satznswys hasn't checked in with Jonathas, the achievement award guy in a long time, so there's a bunch of stuff from his special store she can pick up.
Perfect. Great for recruiting, I think.
A couple of bites from a few old faces, Alphinaud! Onward to Ul'dah, then!