We’ve been extended an “invitation”.
Support us on Patreon! ► http://patreon.com/playframe
___________
STORMBLOOD series playlist! ► https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvFQJa1XAXzyHrbeyXrPMd3_Qg3TC4PF_
FULL SERIES playlist! ► https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvFQJa1XAXzzXrfl_cbsGvEl4AbTt5SMG
___________
0:00 – Introduction
0:26 – QUEST: “The Children of Azim”
9:22 – QUEST: “The Labors of Magnai”
20:04 – QUEST: “For Love of the Moon”
30:01 – QUEST: “Sworn Enemies of the Sun”
___________
Want to join our Free Company? See the unofficial PlayFriends Discord for details! ► https://discord.gg/PlayFriends
___________
Check out the PlayFrame Store! ► https://store.dftba.com/collections/playframe
Dan’s Twitter (@DanFloydPlus) ► https://twitter.com/DanFloydPlus
Carrie’s Twitter (@CarrieFloyd) ► https://twitter.com/CarrieFloyd
PlayFrame Twitter (@PlayFramePlus) ► https://twitter.com/PlayFramePlus
To hear Dan talk MUCH more about game animation, check out New Frame Plus! ► http://www.youtube.com/c/newframeplus
___________
Edited by Daniel Floyd
♫ “Pray Return” by Chris Logsdon
https://lnkfi.re/pray-return
#PlayFrame #FFXIV #FinalFantasyXIV #Stormblood
source
After a week without our favorite little Lalafel, Durmin is finally back🎉
How was everyone's weekend?
Ah yes. Was trying to remember when we would see Magnai, though fellow XIV players may know him also by a different, spoilery name…
Oh and we get to meet every lesbian's favourite character….
Ninja sheep!
Enter: Sadu
Probably my favorite yeah-she-was-clearly-writen-as-a-lesbiab in this game
I dunno, Dan, I somehow doubt a sheep would make an effective rul–
"Mheee!"
…I stand corrected.
6:34 This guy really is a special level of "full of himself", isn't he?
7:58 No, Hien's pretty good at it. I suspect that slight was intentional. A very diplomatic "go do one".
21:12 Don't call them chocolate, it makes me wanna crack them open and see if they're filled with caramel.
30:49 Saw that catch coming, though it's usually executions, so… a single point for variation.
32:35 I expected a slightly more aggressive animation for that response.
4:20 Yes, the Steppe seems full of absolutely wonderful people…
i wonder how the scouting situation resolves for a female character tbh
I absolutely could not take Magnai seriously because of a disconnect between story and gameplay. See, the axe next to him drops from Titan. Which, yes, does imply he could beat up a primal, but at this level Durmin could solo Titan unsynced. More to the point, the axe is level 50 and thus at least 15 levels and over 100 item levels below what Durmin's packing. So it's a very weak weapon and Magnai does not seem the type to use glamours.
"Doubtless you are not (my bride/soulmate), but stranger tales have been told-and the men are of no use to me." The fandom gives Magnai a lot of hate, a lot of well deserved hate, but this right here has no good faith interpretation. We're lucky Lyse knows how to defend herself.
I forget exactly how it comes across but I recall female characters having a reaction to Magni's disctinction of usefulness of men and women.
With Durmin and friends captured by the Oronir and Buduga both, they are thrown into indentured servitude (AKA impromptu tasks.) But what about these two tribes?
The Oronir believe themselves to be direct descendants of the Dawn Father Azim, having won a seat on the Dawn Throne from the previous Nadaam. Its khan is Magnai, who honors his tradition as an Oronir… unfortunately, this makes him a hopeless romantic, as he is still searching for his Nhaama to this day. He actually extends the question of if you are his soulmate when you meet him as a female player, and you can- of course- mercilessly reject him.
They have thrown their lots with the Buduga, and made a pact. The Buduga, a male-only tribe, usually swells their ranks through battle or kidnapping, so the alliance emboldens them to believe that they can increase their ranks further. The Borlaaq is their opposite, being a female-only tribe. As they are female, they swell their ranks not through kidnapping, but through normal means- though they abandon their child within a year of birth if they are male. Not all is lost for these orphaned children, however, as a group known as the Iriq follow the Borlaaq and take these forsaken boys under their wing.
Below the Azim Steppe is a small group of tents. These tents are sometimes frequented by the Dataq, a nomadic tribe who have their own 13-part FATE quest chain. The quest chain ranges from killing animals that encroach upon the Dataqi settlement to milking sheep, and even fending against drunk warriors of the Ugund (who are most notable for their quite metal burial ritual.) For taking a part of this excessively long FATE quest chain, you get a Dataqi standard, which actually DOES have a use… for those who actually have the ability to place it. Which means either getting a house or waiting until you finish a certain expansion.
When we see Durmin next time, i'll go over the Undying Ones and those who are around their settlement, as well as some of the desert tribes.
22:56 HEY! Ruling Doma is a very difficult job, with extra attention direly needed for water filtration systems, okay? 😢
Little Sun
36:05 Here we see something I had been hoping to see. Durmin is sporting a title above his head: "Dan"
It's probably intended to refer to, say, a level of skill in martial arts, but just as the surface reading it's the perfect title for Durmin. More to the point, it's a PVP title, meaning a good many people have had their shins kicked.
10:36 I cannot find it for the life of me, but there was a tumblr post about misreading that second line…
34:15 Note the Oronir next to the standard doing the chicken dance. That is an actual emote you can get, though called the "Yol Dance" in this world.
I hope the Oronir get obliterated.
Yay…Sun chores. Congrats, Dan on passing the "Milk our beasts" test.
I like how they're incorporating some of the FFVI lore into the mythology of the Steppe: a war between gods, sentient beings created as living weapons. It's a nice way to lift more details from the game that provided Doma as a setting in the first place.
Welcome back Playfriends! And welcome back Dan and Durmin! This is your spoiler free lore comment!
We now get to see who's ruling the Azim Steppe… and he's kind of a jerk. Magnai is a guy who has been drinking in his own hype to the point that his ego is as large as the heavenly body he claims to represent. Remember that the Buduga are interested in adding more men to their ranks, which may account for their interest in Durmin and Hien.
Hien looks to gain intelligence on the Oronir, but this also gives the story time to teach Durmin (and us) about the LORE of the Xaela and the Azim Steppe! In the meantime, I'll use today's episode to talk about more tribes of the Xaela!
The Goro is a tribe with great faith in horses, believing them to be perfect beings. When a Goro comes of age, they are wed to a horse of the opposite sex, but this appears to be a primarily symbolic gesture. As an Au Ra will greatly outlive a horse, a Goro will be wed to may horses throughout their life.
The Uyagir are peculiar in that they are one of the few tribes to have given up nomadic ways. They reside in a series of caves in the east of the Steppe, and like the Mol, the tribes' leader receives visions from their gods. But the reason for their ways is more tied to their past. The tribe, taken by their own greed, attempted to subjugate all others. As if by divine retribution, a series of giant beetles were unleashed upon their land, wreaking havoc and devastation. Their stance of humble living is part of their penance to their gods.
And last, we'll talk about a tribe that is no more. The Hotgo were massacred, and their only survivors were those who were traveling away from the tribe when the battle occurred. They were known for bright face paints that were changed as their moods changed, no doubt requiring many removals and applications. But the interesting point about the Hotgo is that they have a different creation myth, that they trace to a boy and girl. A boy and girl who emerged from a steel giant many years ago, and would become the progenitors of this tribe. The boy and girl's names were lost to time, but Durmin knows two of the surviving members of the tribe: Mide and Dayan.
The stories of the Oronir reveals some of the source of Magnai's personality. He is actively seeking his moon, his Nhaama. This is why he chooses Lyse as his hostage, and he will make similar comments to female Warriors of Light (if I recall, he allows them to go on the mission because he feels this increases the chances of success). The fact that he is searching for his perfect bride in an entirely misogynistic way and that it is directly hampering his efforts doesn't occur to him in any way.
While the Mol are among the bottom of the Steppe hierarchy, they are not the opposite of the mighty Oronir. Next time, we learn of another tribe, the Dotharl.
New cast members:
Daniel Fraser, Zak from Frequencies (OXV: the Manual), as Magnai Oronir, sometimes known as Magnai the Older.
Beatriz Romilly, Penelope & Olivia in Lilybuds, as Sadu Dotharl, sometimes known as Sadu Heavensflame
Drag him, Hien, he deserves it!
New friend seems very tough, but Durmin has charm to spare!
Ahhh…Magnai and Sadu. Was trying to remember when we met them. Still, lore dump time is always appreciated, and the Dawn Throne is a very pretty area. Gives you an amazing view of the Steppe
The "largest and smallest samurai spring into action" bit makes me imagine Gosetsu doing a "fastball special" with Durmin, lifting him up and throwing him at the enemy like a very cute, very lethal Lalafel-shaped missile.
Ah Magnai your incredibly inflated self-importance is as annoying as I remember. I look forward to watching you get humbled … a lot.
This arc is why I love it every time Magnai gets snubbed.
39:10 “Who do we serve at this point?”
Snacks, Dan. We serve snacks.
Magnai seems like a bit of a blowhard (to put it lightly) but also to ultimately have his heart somewhat in the right place. Just a bit too stuck on certain things to manage it properly. So, consider me half a fan.
This is one of the few questlines that has gendered dialogue differences beyond just switching out "sir/madam". If you're playing a female character the Buduga warriors working with Magnai will refuse to speak with you on account of you being a woman, rather than being approving like they did for Durmin. And Magnai will consider both you and Lyse when deciding who will stay with him, but will decide you're far too "fierce and brutal" to be his gentle Nhaama and will still end up picking Lyse.
Theres just something i find inherently funny about the first quest of the episode going "Now we shall return to Mol Iloh" then Lyse says "Lets go back to Mol Iloh" and then they go back to Mol Iloh.
Completely unnecessary doubling of unformation, and yet… i find it humorous.
God, even if it was just a week, I REALLY missed this series! Makes my week so much better having this to look forward to!