Just one tiny detour between us and our next imperial target.
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0:00 – Introduction
0:32 – QUEST: “The Fortunes of War”
4:35 – QUEST: “Rising Fortunes, Rising Spirits”
18:29 – QUEST: “The Lure of the Dream”
26:31 – QUEST: “The Lady of Bliss”
35:53 – TRIAL: Emanation
44:00 – QUEST: “The Lady of Bliss” (continued)
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Edited by Daniel Floyd
♫ “Pray Return” by Chris Logsdon
https://lnkfi.re/pray-return
#PlayFrame #FFXIV #FinalFantasyXIV #Stormblood
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"Snakes…why'd it have to be snakes?"
Thiss iss one of my favorite trialss.
So I know why they have to split the opening zones, a thing they do every expack but I am not a huge fan. It's a matter of separating out the player base at launch, give them 2 places to go at the start, then get them out as quick as possible to break up the hoard, before letting them come back later to finish.
Unfortunately this means that you're going to be spending a lot of time in early areas following aether currents to invisible walls.
Ah, it's time for another instance of 'wait, what now?!' episode titles induced by an upbringing in a Hindu household.
Mind you, there IS precedent for this particular reference, even if was only in one game, so… fair play to them, I guess.
50:46 Here’s a localisation fun fact:
What is known as the “Echo” in English is called 超える力 (transcending power) in Japanese and “Transzendieren” (transcendence) in German.
I’ll leave it up to you what you’ll make of this.
Lakshmi is easily one of my FAVORITE trials in Stormblood, only succeeded by one from the Patches. Such an absolute delight tbh.
I somehow knew Durmin wasn't going to choose one of my favourite dialogue options in the game.
Regarding 9:29 , this applies to the Miqo'te who are Seekers of the Sun. Their cousins, Keepers of the Moon, have different traditions. You can learn more about both with this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGwnTelYg20 (the maker does a lot of lore videos, recommended)
16:15 I love the "Why's everyone looking at me… again?"
18:05 Plot armour's a bitch, ain't it?
20:48 I bet all the fanart is 100% respectful, yup… it sure must be…
36:31 I kinda expected her tail to be longer… oh well.
40:20 really loving the music for this one.
47:11 Except for the part where she survived being in front of Zenos in what I can only call a "Boethia moment". Answer wrong, and you die.
47:42 You see? Work as hard as you want, they'll always find a way to look down at you. Cast them down, and they can only stare at the dirt, or up at you.
50:40 What's this? Second chances? Has Zenos gone soft for her, or is he just finding a more amusing way to get her killed (like she should've been twice over now)?
"know that I'll kill your god"… but then that is probably an expectation and the responce would be knowing it's not the actual god based on the extreme use of it from their POV
I definitely smiled at the bleak joke of naming the leader (?) of the Ananta tribe that just wants to be left alone 'Shanti' – it translates to 'peace', for those who don't know.
The second of the Stormblood trials, Sri Lakshmi, is here, and Durmin aims to stop her before she drains the land's aether and converts more ananta into becoming her dreamers. And with a new primal comes a new Primal Lore entry! (To note, we're NOT going over how controversial her design is, that's NOT the spirit of the Primal Lore entries.)
"At the beginning of creation, the world and all who inhabited it were a form of chaos. All beings dealt only harm to one another as frenzied, wild animals, struggling to survive. Seeing this, Sri Lakshmi molded a being in her image from clay and breathed into it life and will, bringing forth the first Ananta. From her beauty emerged beauty, and by her providence was a command over earth imparted.
Lakshmi also blessed her creations with limitless fertility, allowing for birth and motherhood without a male counterpart. From this immaculate conception were born children of unlimited vitality as a blessing of the goddess."
Lakshmi is an interesting case, as she's confirmed to have different meanings for each of the Ananta tribes- one may revere her as a symbol of power, while another may revere her as an immaculate artisan, and revolve themselves around such a lifestyle. The Ananta, a serpentine race solely made up of women, are implied to be products of Allagan ingenuity and are hunter-gatherers native to Gyr Abania. Though usually meat eaters, these women also enjoy a type of fungi that grows in the region. They are also proficient in metalcraft and have developed a spell that allows them to "weave" metal into different shapes. These ananta treasures are highly valued due to their unique gleam and designs, and their clothcraft is of a similar quality and value.
Due to the lack of males, they have a tenuous concept of family and do not see a necessity for a family name- everyone is either an Ananta, or they're not. Additionally, they despise "ugly" things such as scars, ooze, and other such things, and have the ability to molt. You can actually learn more about the Ananta through their tribe questline, the Velodyna Gatekeepers.
As a Blue Mage, you can actually learn Stotram from Lakshmi, which has a unique effect: normally, it deals damage- however, if you learn Aetherial Mimicry and become a "healer" with it, the move actually restores everyone's HP for 300 potency- and as of this writing, Emanation is one of the current Blue Mage log targets for the week, so fighting her's a great excuse to learn this move and get seals.
I do love the momens like when Alphi is actively protecting his sister… even if alisaie is headstrong to be "Above" it, he does care… in his own ways as we'll see … later
40:00 ish Clever cut there! 👌
Playfriends, it's time to turn our grasp on The Fringes into a full on front! This is your spoiler free lore comment.
2:30 – Look, a captured imperial lalafell!
13:10 – When the Garleans view all those who are not from Garlemald as savages, it's real easy to start viewing everyone else as subhuman. Fordola should know better, being a local, about the divisions of the Ananta. She should know that its easier to exploit these divisions rather than run afoul of them. But here's a little tidbit about Fordola that will be revealed in the coming episodes: she's not from this region of Gyr Abania. She's from a region known as The Lochs.
Anamika is a name originating from India, which means "woman with no name", or also that the woman's destiny is not dictated by her name. Shanti is the Indian word for peace. Meanwhile, Lakshmi is the name of the Hindu goddess of wealth, light, wisdom, fortune, luck, beauty, courage, and fertility. She is typically depicted on a large lotus flower, and holding lotus flowers in her hands. It's possible that the Japanese goddess Kisshoten is a adaptation of her from Buddhism. As far as I can tell, this is her first depiction in Final Fantasy.
30:18 – This isn't the first time we've discussed that the soul and the body are separate. If you recall, Urianger and Moenbryda put on a power point about how the Ascians' souls return to the void instead of being merged with the Aetherial Sea. In this case, Anamika is gone, even though her body has been repaired.
33:30 – This is the first time we've seen the Echo used to protect others from tempering. I'm not sure this is what the devs originally had in mind for how the Echo protects us, but this is the depiction going forward, that the Echo creates a little extra room for those around us, and Durmin can position himself to protect his compatriots.
35:07 – "I've gotta give them a choice" – The 10th Doctor, The Poison Sky
38:13 – The Vril button in this trial might be the first required use of the Duty Action button. This button shows up in specific duties, and usually specific to that duty, changing what it does and what triggers it. Usually whenever you see the Duty Action Bar (the darkened area behind the button) pop up, be ready to use that button as a key moment in the fight (it also helps to read the description)!
50:25 – Be careful what you wish for…
Today's extra lore is about M'naago's family! Her father, M'rahz Nuhn, is the single Nuhn of the tribe and her mother, M'hahtoa Lhan, is near the campfire. But prior to the lean days under Garlean rule, the M tribe was quite large. Large enough to have TWO Nuhns. I'd like to introduce a member of M tribe, the son of the now departed 2nd Nuhn: M'zhet Tia. Or as he's known to my FC, the most disastrous catboy to have walked Eorzea. The disaster catboy which all others are measured against. He's determined to unseat M'naago's father as the sole Nuhn to the tribe, not just for his own glory, but to prove that his father's line isn't weak, after his father chose to go into exile when it became obvious that tribe could not maintain 2 Nuhn. M'zhet is a far cry from his father's bravery and wisdom. He sometimes uses Garlean grenades to prove his toughness and bravery. Not that he throws the grenades in battle, he has others throw them at him. He swears he removed most of the explosives. He swears. But even with all of his disastrous nature on display, M'rahz Nuhn actually thinks he might become a capable member of the tribe, or even his successor as the Nuhn. He just needs some coaching and direction. Coaching that gets pawned off to you. M'zhet's training is part of the unlock requirements for the Velodyna Gatekeepers, the Ananta tribe reputation grind, as his storyline eventually intertwines with theirs.
I was half expecting an Ascian at the end there, so at least it's not them. I do wonder what they're up to…..
41:15 was a VERY good transition! Absolutely love it. Even the music transitioned super well! I'm thoroughly impressed!
I call shenanigans! A big expensive breakable important thing minding its own business just sitting on the edge of a cliff? in a village of cats? No way, nuh-uh. They must have to haul that aetheryte crystal back up the cliff and repair it daily.
💙
Is Lakshmi's voice actor the same as Y'shtola's? It sounds similar
– wow the Imperials really did fell for it, that was weirdly easy
– oh yeah that boy who summoned Titan… i wonder if they's ok?
– i love the addition that different sub-tribes of the same beastmen have different interpretations of their Myths & the person summoning the Eikon also ads to it's nature
– that's a very pretty Eikon fight
– luckily she has plenty bossom for people to rest in
– oh i see Zenos is doing that whole "every death you avoid bring an even worse fate to the next death you avoid"
9:11 One interesting note is that there are actually no Imperial troops as regular enemies in any of the Stormblood maps. They're only ever encountered as quest spawns.
Contrast Mor Dhona and a few places in Thanalan and La Noscea, which still have a strong imperial presence an indeterminate length of time after the conclusion of Operation Archon.
Did Dan run past a Hyur and a Lalafell dressed in Grand Company uniforms like 5 seconds after Arenvald told him there were two suspicious types fitting that description on the loose? There was a Miqo'te with them and they seemed to be taking orders from Pipin so they're probably cool but, as Dan Jones might say, I'm squintin', game.
Now THAT is a cool as heck boss fight!
Props to Nyzmeth for pressing 'F' to pay respects
Durman, we need your special tallents!
… "You mean Snack delivery?"
No, your OTHER tallents.
… "Oh, just point me at it, and not even a godly shin is safe"
How is Durman going to handle this, Snake Ladies don't have shins to kick?!?
The M tribe sidequests are a great place to learn more about Miqo'te society.