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public-trans-it · 14 days

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Figured I would make a post of all my various FFXIV OC's.

Warning: There are more than just these 4, those are just the big ones. Also, this is like 5 years' worth of weekly RP with my FC, and we very much leaned into the absurd over-the-top fantasy of the FF series. So, like... boy HOWDY is this gonna be a lot. Edit after finishing writing this draft: it was far more than I thought oh my god I forgot how bullshit all of this was. However I added a clear indicator of where you can skip the most bullshit parts.

(All infoblocks are how the character would describe themselves. Summaries are (mostly) my own words, unless I think its really funny to not do so.)

I also have redacted a lot of info about other people's characters cause I'm not entirely comfortable sharing all of them here. So the names of other characters, and also my FC's name, are entirely removed. I've also tweaked some of the details slightly, mostly just the timing of certain events, and combining/removing a couple of the T'alia's (yes there used to be more). Also spoilers for a few bits of MSQ, but does include things up to the end of Endwalker.

If you don't want what is basically a summary of a four year long RP campaign, you can get the short version by just reading the entries for the four characters listed above.

Name: T'sraetn Slein Race: Miqo'te/Garlean (Mixed race) Clan: Seeker of the Sun Gender: Cis(ish) Woman (She/Her)

T'sraetn was born in the capital city of Garlemald, child of a garlean scientist, Varrick lux Slein, and a miqo'te conscript-engineer, T'alia Raio. Her father was researching the Echo, trying to find ways to replicate its effects with a garlean soul. When the Garlond Ironworks rebelled and fled for Eorzea, T'sraetn's family fled with them, though Varrick was killed in the process, his research stolen by his former boss, Aulus mal Asina.

T'sraetn became fascinated by all forms of magic in Eorzea, following the paths of the Arcanist before branching out to other fields. She continued to find stronger and stronger opponents to test her magical prowess against, eventually awakening to the Echo and being recruited to the Scions.

The events of 1.0 through Stormblood happen relatively the same as they do in the game, though T'sraetn went missing after the battle with Shinryu. She reappeared once again after the events of Shadowbringers 5.3 (sort of, see below), now sporting several cybernetic augments throughout her body, with all of her limbs being fully cybernetic.

She initially had no issues with her augments, barring a few exceptions. However, after the events of Endwalker, she grew to hate them. She believed these augments were the only thing that allowed her to survive her fight against Zenos and that he should have been the one to walk away from their final confrontation. She eventually underwent a dangerous procedure to remove her augments and replace her limbs with vat-grown cloned organic transplants.

T'sraetns version of the Echo manifests it in a bizarre temporal distortion. Time feels as if it passes differently for her, with her experiencing weeks or months in the span of time that others claim to only experience days. In combat, she experiences her own death over and over again until, eventually, she survives the fight. The way that Zenos and Fordola experience their Resonance makes her feel a kinship with them in this regard, and has lead to her developing an unhealthy obsession with both of them.

T'sraetn has grown disillusioned with the life of adventure, and now spend much of her time drinking and reliving her fight with Zenos, hoping at some point she will discover her life since that point was just a very long vision, and if she just did something different in the fight, they would both have survived.

The rare times she is sober, she spends studying the primal Alexander, as well as the remains of the Tycoon in the depths of the Crystal Tower on the First, hoping to someday unlock the secret of how G'raha managed to change the past, while she continues to fail.

She funds these expeditions by selling her services to the goblins of the Wolves Den, helping them refine and test their designs for human pilots.

(Here she is, Ms. Warrior of Light herself. I do find it hilarious that 'Mech Pilot' is a lore friendly profession to have, so I had to go for it. I technically have two versions of T'sraetn! (Well... 3) One is the version I used in my Free Company's weekly roleplay for about 4 years, who is not actually the Warrior of Light, and the other is, in fact, the Warrior of Light herself. However, everything canon to the FC version is more or less canon to the WoL version. We won't be getting into the third version on a SFW blog. The bit about her dad was written back in Heavensward. Needless to say, I was absolutely DELIGHTED once Stormblood was released, and a large chunk of the plot focused on exactly that.)

Name: Killer Kweh Race: Unknown Clan: Unknown Gender: Unknown (They/Them)

Killer Kweh is a vigilante who began to harass T'sraetn's FC around the events of late Shadowbringers, keeping tabs on the various villains and scoundrels that the FC let slip away, thinking the power of friendship would be enough to save the day. Together with their chocobo, Wark Warrior, the two would track down and kill those the FC had spared. They eventually began to confront the FC, trying to pressure them into no longer forgiving those who wronged them.

Their identity remains a mystery to this day, and will likely never be discovered, no matter how often the other FC members says things like "T'sraetn the mask doesn't even cover all your hair, and we can clearly still see your tail." or "Can you hide your chocobo's costume somewhere else? We need to clean the stables."

(I kept this glam and now use it for PLD/RDM. Originally I was actually planning to have Killer Kweh be an entirely different character, but the FC kept making jokes about the tail showing, and I decided to roll with it cause having it just be T'sraetn the whole time was FAR funnier tbh, and we needed something light hearted at the time.)

If you don't want to read a whole boatload of FC lore, you should skip all of this. (Scroll down until you see the quest complete)

Name: T'alia Raio Race: Miqo'te Clan: Seeker of the Sun Gender: Cis Woman (She/Her)

The first of the many, many, MANY faces of T'alia, who served as one of the central antagonists for much of the FC's life.

As mentioned above, T'alia was an engineer working in Garlemald before her family attempted to flee alongside the Garlond Ironworks, her husband being killed in the process. Wrought with guilt over his death, T'alia vowed to attempt to continue his research once they arrived in Eorzea, studying the soul and how various things could affect it.

Where her husband turned to the Echo, T'alia instead turned to the void, and to the tempering effect of primals. She made a pact with a voidsent, offering it not her own soul, but the soul of her research subjects, in return for studying its effects on them.

She eventually joined a Free Company, finding them to be perfect test subjects and developing an obsession with helping them grow stronger. She carefully examined and documented the effects on them and their aether after various fights with primals and voidsent, all under the guise of helping them grow stronger.

The idea of the FC needing to grow stronger became more and more compulsive, culminating in her trying to graft the soul of her voidsent into the aether of an injured FC member, an act which was the last straw and resulted in the FC turning on her.

She harbored no ill will against the adventurers, and continued her experiments from a distance, using facilities within abandoned garlean bases to construct various monsters for the free company to "train" against, frequently against their will.

(The FC I was with from 1.0 up to Stormblood Launch had a lot of drama. I originally made T'alia as a way to shop around and play with other FC's. When I joined my current FC, they mentioned not having any real dedicated antagonist for their RPs, and so I decided before the first RP I joined that T'alia was eventually going to make a heel turn, and played her as friendly but also very clearly having an ulterior motive. Also T'alia is still my MCH glam!)

Name: T'alia Raio Kime Race: Disembodied Soul Chimera Clan: Specter Yeah :) Gender: Monster (It/She/He)

T'alia's research into metempsychosis culminated in the preservation of her soul, at the cost of the willing destruction of her own body, obtaining a state not unlike those of the Ascians. She began growing multitudes of clones of herself, experimenting on them, merging them with beast men, and creating terrifying new chimerical bodies with which she continued to 'test the potential' of the FC.

However, these bodies and her soul mixed like water and oil, and she was never able to fully utilize them. While each one was quite powerful on its own, under her control they were exceedingly frail, and she would find her soul being ejected from them long before the point the body itself failed. This eventually forced her to turn back to her original field of engineering, augmenting these bodies with cybernetic enhancements.

Eventually, she invited the FC to one of her most ambitions plans to date, which she referred to as "The Merger", a combination wedding ceremony and business merger between both herself, and another rival of the FC's who also was heavily proficient in the field of engineering. This event was, in truth, an experiment where she splintered the timeline and merged it together again. During one timeline, an FC member was killed and replaced with a cybernetic replica crafted by T'alia and her new wife, while in the other timeline the FC member lived on as normal.

T'alia's plans for all of this were seemingly lost when her corpse was discovered in some ruins, impaled by a chunk of white auracite that kept her from escaping the vessel she was inhabiting. This drove her wife deeper into despair, and the widow blamed the FC for allowing this to happen, becoming a far bigger threat to them in the process.

(It was a running joke in our RPs that T'alia would keep getting called an Ascian, only to respond, "I still don't know what that is..." While she did achieve a similar form, it was elusively through her own research, and she never had any affiliation with the Ascians/Ancients)

Name: Tali Race: Various Clan: Various Gender: Nonbinary (She/Her)

Shortly after T'alia's death, one of her augmented clones began interacting with the FC. She revealed she was the one who killed the 'real' T'alia, an action she had no choice in taking. Several of this clones augments allowed T'alia to control her remotely, and she had taken control of her body to kill herself. These augments still remained in place, and even with no one controlling them now, they still prevented certain actions, such as revealing what T'alia was planning.

This T'alia clone continued to work alongside the FC, eventually being welcomed with open arms as a full fledged member, with the FC renaming her 'Tali' to differentiate her from her creator.

While Tali already differed significantly from her creator, she felt a deep unease about being compared to her. She took up the gunblade and began to dabble in various shape changing magics in order to further differentiate herself from T'alia, resulting in frequent damage to her body and need for replacements of her various artificial limbs. All the while, unfamiliar memories began to surface in her mind, revealing that the memories of T'alia's own past that she had planted in Tali weren't sticking.

While she was unable to reveal T'alia's plans to the FC, she was more than able to be reckless about leaving around too many maps about where T'alia's various facilities were located, leading the FC on missions to shut them down and uncover more details about T'alia's plans, with Tali quickly piecing the details together and becoming both more distressed and more frantic to get the FC to uncover the rest.

Over the course of these expeditions the FC found T'alia's main base: a facility located in a rift in spacetime filled with a massive number of clones. Thousands of clones of T'alia, as well as hundreds of clones of every single FC member.

This facility housed enough clues for the FC to realize two things: first, that T'alia was being coerced into her actions by some other entity that she had been plotting against, and second, Tali's differences to T'alia came not from her augmentations, but from the the fact that she was never a clone of T'alia at all, but her own daughter T'sraetn, augmented and brainwashed into becoming a pawn for T'alia to use.

(Yes the DPS symbol on the blue background is intentional. It's a joke about me always off-tanking at the time, and being a 'Blue DPS'. The name Tali was actually a typo from an FC member addressing her, but everyone immediately realized it would be a great way to differentiate this other version of T'alia, and so we kept it. Also, we had a running joke in our RP's that Tali's arms just fell right off about once per RP night.)

Name: T'alia Allengray Race: Miqo'te Clan: Seeker of the Sun Gender: Cis Woman (She/Her)

Pouring over T'alia's research notes, T'sraetn and the FC eventually found the source of what T'alia had been pushing them all towards, the entity that had plagued her for her entire life: T'alia.

This other T'alia eventually made her presence known by possessing a shape changing quicksilver construct that the FC had defeated, forming a new body for herself. Taking the old T'alia's role as antagonist (though never posing anywhere near as much a direct threat), she was happy to monologue to the FC, and even gave them a linkpearl to answer any questions they might have.

This other T'alia (who the FC simply refered to by her surname, Allengray) was a copy of herself from a different timeline, who had trapped herself in a perpetual timeloop that lasted from the moment of her birth, to the moment of her death. Her original self became nothing more than a disembodied specter within the loop, forced to observe the same events play out over and over again. Over the course of the more than 5 million years she spent trapped in the loop, she slowly gained the ability to subtly influence the members of her FC, with a far bigger influence on each loops iteration of herself.

In her original timeline, Allengray and the FC had fought a devastatingly powerful primal, Lich. As they began to realize their conventional methods of killing primals would not affect it, they eventually chose to build a temporal cage, crafted from the remains of Alexander. The device would contain one aetheric being, and one mortal being, binding the two together. Lich would be trapped within it, and bound to the lifespan of whoever activated the device. While Allengray was not the one selected to bear that burden, she stole the device in the dead of night and sacrificed herself to it, rather than watch any of her friends suffer. Instead, she was left to be tortured for millions of years, watching Lich kill her friends over and over again while she could do little more than watch, and whisper to each version of herself to beg them to find a way to stop it.

(Another kept glam! Allengray is my BLU glam. I actually introduced her as a palette swapped version of another FC members 'Monster of the Week', which was the quicksilver construct that Allengray possessed. She was a bit of an amnesiac trickster for a bit, as her soul adjusted to her new body.)

Name: T'alia Allengray Lich Race: Primal Clan: Aetheric Parasite Gender: Primal (It/Its)

Eventually, Allengray revealed Lich's true nature. Unlike other primals, Lich did not exist as a body. It was more of a parasite that existed in the lifestream, devouring the souls of those who died, which is why it had been so difficult to find a way to stop. And over the course of hundreds of loops, it had grown and adapted to exist within a person's aether, feeding off of them.

Specifically, that of Allengray, where it had latched itself into and fully consumed her. While the timeloop was still connected to the lifespan of each timeline's T'alia, Lich was free to wreck whatever havoc it wanted on the FC, manipulating the timeline to ensure they would suffer over and over again to amuse itself. Even if they found a way to kill it, which the FC occasionally managed to do, the timeline would still be reset on its death, meaning the most the FC would ever be able to do to it is doom another timeline to be the victim of its wrath.

Moreover, with this timelines T'alia now trapped in white auracite, she could never truly die, allowing Lich to remain in this timeline indefinitely.

This timelines T'alia (which is T'alia Raio, in case you lost track. Very understandble if you did.) still managed to get the last laugh. Through their various interactions, the FC of this timeline had become a force of abominations. Fractured primals, artificial constructs, temporal anomalies, and voidtouched avatars, all untouchable by Lich. A fierce battle ensued, Lich toying with FC with the knowledge that killing it wouldn't stop it, even as it clearly grew frustrated.

In the final moment of the battle, the FC revealed their ace in the hole, one of their enemies who had a far bigger grudge against Lich than anyone in the FC. The wife of this timelines T'alia, holding a recreation of the device that trapped Lich and Allengray in the timeloop in one hand, and the white auracite that held her wifes soul in the other. Binding the device to herself and her wife, the two became banished from this timeline to spend eternity with one another, replacing Lich and Allengray in the loop.

Lich did not have time to make its feelings on this development known, as the FC shredded it apart and destroyed it for good.

(I've always fucking loved the concept behind Lich, because in case it wasn't clear by now, I am ABSOLUTELY FASCINATED by death and how we relate to it, and wish Lich had a bigger role in Final Fantasy (I love you Stranger of Paradise). In XIV in particular I felt it had so much potential as a primal. Plus "Killing the embodiment of death itself" is such a final fantasy ass final boss. We did later get something like that in Endwalker, but I'm still very happy with my take on it.)

(Additional fun fact: this timeline is the 72,323nd loop that Lich and Allengray were trapped in. Since I'm going with a dumb quest formatting for this, I'll say first person to correctly guess why I chose that number gets... idk... a trust banner of their character and/or a wallpaper made of them? This post contains all the information an FFXIV player would need to guess why I chose that number.)

Name: Noraliene Haillenarte Race: Elezen Clan: Wildwood Gender: Cis Woman (She/Her)

Despite all appearances, Noraliene is an elezen born to House Haillenarte in Ishgard. A member of House Dzemael dosed her drink with a fantasia during a banquet, and when she awoke the next morning as an Au Ra, she found herself the target of a horrible campaign to undermine House Haillenarte by claiming they are heretics, as well as an attempt to use her as "proof" that Au Ra are companions to dragons and must be purged from the city.

She was exiled by her family and escaped the city the next day, being pursued by several members of the Ishgardian Church seeking to kill her for her supposed heresy. Cold and exhausted, she eventually collapsed in the snow, where she claims she froze to death before being resurrected. In truth, she was rescued before that point by Ysayle, and her blue skin is a result of being tempered by Shiva.

After Ysayle's death, Noraliene took her place and helped lead her followers in reintegrating into Ishgard. She had no desire to return to the place of so many bad memories, however, and decided to join up with T'alia's FC shortly after T'alia revealed her true colors, granting them her aid as the new avatar of Shiva.

Despite her tragic past and icy aesthetic, she actually has a very warm and bubbly personality, eager to share her love of Doman Romance novels with anyone who will listen, and excitedly prying into the love life of anyone who was willing to share. She eventually grew tired of the constant stress and drama of being an adventurer and married another Ishgardian exile, choosing to move far away from Eorzea with her new wife.

(Did I make this character just as an excuse to spam the Diamond Dust emote during RP nights? You can't prove that. She was actually made so that I could join the RP easier when other people wanted to host an RP, instead of trying to bullshit together another reason why the FC was just willing to team up with T'alia again. The Diamond Dust spam was just a bonus. I also have a 26 page screenshot comic about her origin story that I've written out, and just need to actually take the screenshots for, but EFFORT...)

Name: Muddied Glory Race: Au Ra Clan: Raen/Xaela (Mixed race) Gender: Cis Woman (She/Her)

Muddied Glory is the orphan daughter of a Raen and a Xaela who were both killed touring Eorzea while she was just an infant. She was placed into the foster care of a Hellsguard woman, who gave her the name she has now.

At a very young age, Glory was adopted by the Church of Halone, where she became a devoted follower of their doctrine. As she grew, she would eventually find herself blessed by Halone with visions into the lives of those she would grant absolution (Its just the Echo), and very rarely, she will wake up in the morning with no memory of the previous night, the events of her own life falling away so her memory could instead be filled with the knowledge of a killer who must be brought to justice, delivered to her through the eyes of their victim.

Her conviction of faith is never stronger than when she faces on these killers, and from the moment they lock eyes with her, before even a single word is said, they are filled with the terrifying knowledge that she is there to bring them to justice. (This is the usual reaction people have when the woman they killed last night shows up in front of them.)

(Glory is me going "Hey remember that one Sahagin Priest in MSQ? Where we learned what a fully realized Echo was capable of? Yeah we need more of that", with the additional silliness of the character in question having no idea it's happening to her. Once again, I was very excited when Zenos exhibited the same ability, and then again with the In From The Cold solo duty in Endwalker.)

Name: Ifrit's Bride Race: Tempered Clan: Thrall Gender: Seemingly Trans Woman (It/She)

While there has not been a cure until very recently, being tempered has never been a 'one and done' affair. A primal is fully capable of tempering a single person multiple times, corrupting them far beyond the point of recognizability, as seen most commonly in Leviathan's drowned.

Ifrit's Bride is an example of that. It is unknown what rank or purpose she served among the followers of Ifrit, only that it was far more aetherially corrupted than was the norm for the followers of Ifrit.

After plaguing them for years, she was eventually captured by the Brotherhood of Ash where they worked with the immortal flames and the new anti-tempering magics lent to them to attempt to see if the process could be combined with the Brotherhood's Sacred Ash.

(Technically, she wasn't given the name Tempered Lass until after she was cured, so I should have used a different name for the trust banner. But also fuck making another one, I'm almost done with this post. Also I can't do tribal dailies on this character anymore, because I refuse to complete 'Losing One's Tempered' so that I can always keep some Sacred Ash on hand.)

Name: Tempered Lass Race: "Prefer not to disclose" Clan: "Prefer not to disclose" Gender: So Fucking Much (She/It)

The result was... mixed. While they managed to cure the Bride of Ifrit of her tempering, she had no memory of anything prior to the point of being cured, and her body remained warped.

She was given into the care of a Hellsguard woman who gave her a very... on the nose name, and there it was discovered that without regular treatments of the Brotherhood's Sacred Ash, she would once again begin hearing the whispers of Ifrit compelling her. She is also particularly gullible, but it is unclear if that is a result of the process that cured her, or simply a natural character trait for her.

While the Brotherhood of Ash welcomes her with open arms and is happy to provide her with Sacred Ash at no cost, Temmie prefers to try to live in Ul'dah. She is frequently found among the refugees, helping them for far too little coin for what she needs to sustain herself.

(The reason she can't remember anything is cause there is nothing to remember. Despite appearances, Temmie is not an Au Ra, she is a Miqo'te. Specifically, Temmie is a clone of T'sraetn created by T'alia to test the effects of tempering. Also, if it wasn't clear, her and Muddied Glory are foster sisters.)

Name: Gyococo Gyoco Race: Namazu Lalafell Clan: Namazu Dunesfolk Gender: "Depends on how much you are paying." (She/Him)

Gyococo is a lalafell adopted and raised by namazu. Once the Far East started becoming a more popular tourist destination for Eorzeans, she began seeing more and more lalafells, eventually growing curious enough to wish to visit and explore the land her real parents hailed from. At least, that's what he told people.

In truth, Gyococo cared little for pursuing his ancestral culture and just saw what she assumed would be an ignorant and unassuming market she could swindle as a merchant. What she found when she arrived in Ul'dah, however, was a society of cut throats and swindlers worse than any namazu could ever hope to achieve.

After months of barely scraping by, he eventually turned over a new leaf. She befriended an illiterate playwright and now acts as her scribe and editor. While he is far from the rich woman he was hoping to become, she lives comfortably and is happy with where her life is at.

(I don't touch Gyococo much, mostly because the playerbase is really fucking weird about lalafells and really fucking weird about trans women, and the overlap is... not fun, honestly.)

Name: Gaeli Cat Race: Gaelicat Clan: Gaelicat Gender: Gaelicat

Gaelicat.

(Gaelicat.)

#FFXIV #ffxiv wol #ffxiv rp #People are gonna see this and then give me a sideways glance and go 'So uh... hows your relationship with your mom Ceetee?'#to which I reply 'My mother is the coolest person I know and also I am never speaking to her again after all the pain she has caused me'#'and also I'm fairly sure she was starting to suffer from dementia and beginning to lose her own identity to it.'#but I don't see how any of that is relevant to my FFXIV OC's #why do you ask?

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whitherwanderer · 8 months

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8 // shed

[ CW: body horror, self mutilation, kinning with a bug. ]

Nexianne’s thoughts had been preoccupied with insects lately. Ever since she’d found the shell of a cicada nymph clinging to her window frame long after the adult had emerged and flown. Alien and beautiful, a fragile image of a creature that traded its form for something greater and was rewarded with a sleek pair of glassy wings.

She’d read about it in a Garlean naturalist’s description of the provincial wildlife beyond the capital. While she’d be loathe to congratulate the enemy on anything more than technological accomplishment, the language around which revolved their taxonomic approach to the star and everything on it was, in itself, beautiful.

Exuviae was the term for this hollow carapace. “Things stripped from the body”.

There were times when she looked in the mirror and did not recognize herself. Times that her clothing seemed to do nothing but scratch at her skin no matter what she did and even the slightest shift of fabric against her was so offensive that she wanted to cast it all off. Burn it. Let the fire keep her warm instead. She kept herself from scratching in an act of self-restraint, but it didn’t stop the fantasy from replaying over and over in her head.

Self-published accounts by the ascetics of the Far East warranted some interest, though eventually she found that her ideals diverged with theirs. The more extreme among them found their purpose in death, but she was not content to wither and diminish. Only to become. But they did provoke a thought. She wondered how much could be stripped from a person before they were no longer one at all, changed into something else that could exist beyond the boundaries of what man only thought was their epitome. How much of a person was exuviae?

Standing in front of the mirror in the dead of night, she found herself tugging at her clothing again. Something on that far plane separated only by glass, her shadow-self, hummed a word at her over and over again until it matched the beat of her heart: Become, become, become. She felt it thrumming under her skin as she stripped off each article of clothing and stood there in the dark, palming her neck, her collar, the backs of her shoulders. If she stood still enough, she could feel the tiny fluttering of wings beneath.

She could make men forget their names, their homes, their histories. She could strip them of individuality and reduce them to feral beasts, if she wanted, guided only by base instinct. Hunger, fear, survival. It was a start, but it was a step backwards from the metamorphosis she was after. That transcendent change rewarded for stripping the self down beyond even blood and bone. Maybe it eluded them because they weren’t pursuing it. Maybe only she was capable of such revelation.

She screamed as she tore through her own flesh to free the wings beneath, but even as they glimmered, glasslike in the moonlight, her reflection begged her to complete them both with its persistent one-word mantra. Dread and agony filled her at the thought of going any further, but the thrill of this breakthrough pressed her on. Pain was but an obstacle, a cry of the cloying self she had to silence. The more of her that sloughed away, the quieter it became until even she no longer screamed. She unraveled quietly in the dark, disassembling herself like a puzzle box until there was no reflection. No separation between she and the shadow. Bare but for a soul.

Nexianne blinked, the flicker of blackened lashes momentarily dispelling the fixation on her soulless mirror image. Her skin no longer itched under her clothing, her ears no longer filled with cries. Her hand lifted and the reflection obeyed. Still herself.

#ffxivwrite2023 #[ ffxivwrite2023 ]#[ the blackroot rose ]#[ drabbles; nex ]#usually i don't try to avoid the prompt word on purpose but this time i did for some reason #anyway idk where this came from #bugs are weird and nex is a little out of her gourd at the best of times #this bitch is so much like Athena #too bad she never got sundered bc I would absolutely say she is lowkey an Athena shard

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twinkle-art · 10 months

Note

now that you're done endwalker, could you talk a little bit more about andromeda? im curious about what she got up to/how she grew in all that time

YES I’D LOVE TO endwalker was BRUTAL to her. and yet she still pulled through with the indomitable human spirit

Previously On Final Fantasy XIV (Andromeda Elo Version) style recap:

as you can imagine, her obsessive belief that killing zenos would instantly reinstate her as a perfect hero circa. stormblood went… poorly. the brief period when people thought she killed him and not that he killed himself in front of her did make her feel a little crazy

and then she went to the first and that kind of put things in perspective. or more accurately, gave her a fresh new slate for her hero image and an excuse to ignore her previous flop era

there was her whole thing with emet-selch. anyways

on that note, the only real canon deviation i made to shb was that when she’s dying of light poisoning she does, in fact, run off to the tempest by herself with the intention of killing them both. this doesn’t pan out and instead she spends about a week hallucinating in emet-selch’s torment nexus until some very upset scions come get her. i’ve drawn a lot about this. i will likely continue to draw a lot about this

due to a cocktail of deep rooted mental issues and also the fact that he was truly just so miserable, andromeda doesn’t feel… great about putting emet-selch down. but instead of articulating this, because she’s convinced it’s not the “right” reaction, she bottles it up for about 3 patches

…until elidibus plays on her guilt and she receives azem’s crystal as a 1-2 punch. when y’shtola asks the wol after the fact if they’re okay i decided that she immediately bursts into tears

so now we arrive at the end times

there’s really no delicate way to say it but the garlemald arc was probably the worst thing she ever experienced. which is impressive, given her spring break amaurot excursion just happened.

(i loved it though it might genuinely have my favorite writing in this whole game)

as i’m sure i don’t have to spell out, being treated as a foreign invader in the place she grew up was kind of a lot. she’s incredibly sentimental about her homeland- for as much as she hates it for how it rejected her (and the atrocities) and as much as she never for a second regretted her defection, her feelings towards garlemald are not dissimilar from the way someone might crave the recognition of a family that has only treated them poorly.

in fact, her traitor’s title of viator was never actually official- zenos referred to her as such, but never made his knowledge of her garlean citizenship public because he dgaf. and yet, despite continuing to exclusively go by elo and hide her origins, she privately referred to herself as viator caecus without much thought, in an act of blinding self-unawareness. (but as her god i know the reason, and it’s that on some level she likes that being branded a Significant Traitor still means being recognized by her former home as Significant)

anyways, speaking of her family: they sure did live in the capital! andromeda is trying really, really hard to be brave and pragmatically carry out her duty as Eorzea’s Champion but like…her mommy lives here :(

in the first of many acts that mean the jig of her supposed eorzean origins is pretty much up, she starts asking everyone they encounter if they’re aware of the whereabouts of a woman named lucretia eir caecus (for ilsabard contingent business, obviously. not because she’s terrified her mom is dead.) without much luck. the twins simply do not have the heart to tell her that this is a hell of a long shot.

(ONE person doesn’t know where she could be, but they do know of her and muse that the rumors must be true then- that this minor city bureaucrat really did have populares sympathies, if she’s a contact for the eorzeans. this comes as total news to andromeda.)

(also eventually, inevitably this get back around to their intelligence and thancred pulls her aside and grills her until he realizes what’s going on and pivots to Oh My God it’s fine that you miss your mom?! you should have come to us helping you look for her is the least we can do after everything. this is the second time a scion makes her burst into tears.)

putting a pin in that for now. in from the cold was . a lot. i don’t have much to say other than that it felt especially cruel to make her drag herself through the ruins of the city she was raised in while wearing the body of the kind of person who made her life hell. also in general that zenos knew what he was doing when he razed her hometown to the ground to get her attention. fucked up duty btw. her desire to kill him with a rock is back.

after tower of babil/the moon/zodiark i deviate from canon a little bit again- she lets the scions do their mare lamentorum side thing while she goes back to garlemald to see what’s going on. not feeling great about maybe causing the final days.

and then she reunites with her mom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (<- part of her narrative that i had planned out as early as heavensward)

i want to draw this scene out in glorious detail but the long and short of it is that lucretia- who lest we forget, knows her way around a gunblade despite living as some military man’s obedient little wife for 25 years- had actually started trailing the ilsabard contingent from a distance once rumors spread that the wol was with them.

see, despite this not being officially public knowledge, she figured out that this “andromeda elo” was her daughter a long, long time ago, and it kind of snapped her out of the two-decade defeatist trance she put herself in for survival. (which is when she got involved in all manner of clandestine anti-state activities- she was rather dangerously close to getting in extremely serious trouble when civil war broke out and everyone kind of stopped caring)

so she followed them from a distance, falsely assuming that the daughter who ran away wouldn’t want to see her until finally getting caught and dragged in there

also she killed her husband in self-defense. allegedly. he was totally tempered i promise. he had it coming tho.

ANYWAYSSS that’s the chunk of edw i have the most detailed thoughts on. elpis was also incredibly harrowing due to um. her Whole Thing with emet-selch but tbh i haven’t fully digested the back half of the expansion yet because it is DENSE

(i do love it when two characters get one single transcendent moment when they're finally able to both understand each other though it makes me crazy)

two final beats that i think illustrate her mental state going into the finale:

when the final days descended, the number one thing that kept her from falling into despair was her reunion with her mother- while their relationship is far from magically fixed, the simple fact that she regained something she lost after realizing how precious it really was to her made her all the more ferocious about ensuring that she will never, ever give that up again

when zenos makes his final assertion that the two of them are the same, she rejects him- but this is because while it was once true, she has since outgrown that. she has outgrown him. and that’s why he loses.

...also she fucked drusilla at some point while learning reaper

#ffxiv #andromeda elo #THIS IS LONG. REALLY LONG but i added a bunch of pictures <3 #thank you for asking anon. i love my daughter i love to talk about her

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brineffxiv · 1 year

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Holy hell, that tower.

And it's just there. You can see it. From the opposite side of the bloody map.

Okay, okay. Write a proper post now...

In Limsa we meet with several of the Alliance's leaders. The plan has been made: we are taking the war to Garlemald. A contingent of elite soldiers will use our newly acquired warding scales to invade the Empire's capital and bring aid to the tempered Garlean populace.

While I trust your intentions, Nanamo, I do not in general trust a foreign government invading a nation with which they have been at war, claiming to be bringing "aid." But then, this is a video game and not real life. Perhaps it is what it says.

Our other target is the colossal tower (that tower holy FUCK) that used to be the Imperial Palace. Because that thing... That thing's bad news.

In Ala Mhigo we confer with Raubahn and Aymeric, who confess that our aid mission is not popular with either of their respective populaces. We also speak with Gaius, who wishes dearly to join us but who regrettably cannot due to both being accused of Varis' murder and his position as a former legatus making him a candidate for a new leader. Maxima will instead be accompanying us.

It turns out that Lucia will be the leader of the Ilsabard Contingent! And what a crowd she will be leading; representatives from all five of the Eorzean Allaince nations (many familiar faces from my class quests among them! How delightful!) as well as several of the Eastern Alliance!

Oh it is so wonderful to see so many old friends in the spotlight again. Brings a happy tear to my eye.

Sadu and Cirina are gal pals. I don't make the rules. They make my little shipper heart happy.

Suddenly, a wild Tataru appears! To provide all us Scions with hand-made winter coats to keep us warm in frigid Garlemald.

...Liar. That's the battle light. Trying to trick me, are you? Lull me into a false sense of security? Well joke's on you. The "several cutscenes" warning puts me on guard like nothing else.

Ah, Emet, what do you have to tell me about Garlemald? You would know it best, I'd imagine. At least, as it was before the Telophoroi got to it.

Really fucking cold? Yeah, I got that. Time to freeze my tail off, I suppose.

Our first obstacle on the road to the capital? Tempered Imperials. Comprised of members of both the Ist and IIIrd legions who had been the main instigators of the civil war, the IIIrd supporting Nerva and the Ist... not. (Who exactly was the Ist supporting??) Are we ever going to meet Nerva? I assume he's not dead yet, but is he tempered is the real question...

Anyway.

Thancred's group will disable and explode the magitek in the nearby depot to create a diversion while we guide the supply convoy through.

Unfortunately this means I must play as Thancred again. Oh boy, and it's a stealth mission this time.

I am less than good at stealth.

Alisaie and I are guarding the rear of the supply carriages, when the blizzard clears and we suddenly find ourselves surrounded by Imperials. It's all we can do to disable them without killing them.

I really enjoyed this fight sequence. Very nice and tense, but not as stressfully difficult as Thancred's section was. Perfectly balanced for a story scene.

Once the fight is well in hand for our side I make for the front to join the vanguard where my friends are contending with the main force of Imperials and their commander: Vergilia.

Nice design. I wonder if she'll be in any way important after we cure her of her tempering?

Oof. That's the first good look I get of that tower. That thing is creeeepy. Gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Fuck. Look at the city.

Wait, that's a road. Like, a modern road. Do the Garleans have cars!? Like. Civilian cars?!

...I find it fascinating that even after living an entire life in Solus' body, Emet-Selch never came to think of himself as Solus. Even now, in reflection, he sees it as playing a role. It makes me wonder... It makes me wonder a great many things... And this is really not the place for them, but you see, I have a one-track mind. And we're in Garlemald. The empire he built and ruled.

...

Here at last.

#ffxiv liveblog #rhesh'a tag #merlwyb bloefhiswyn #nanamo ul namo #lucia junius #maxima quo priscus #thancred waters #sadu dotharl #cirina mol #tataru taru #alisaie leveilleur #emet-selch #garlemald

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myrfing · 4 months

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we got to see one (1) conscript laborer group in the capital and they essentially worked oilfields. not even uh like, liberal garleans were represented at all in that segment. afaik it seems to me like they mostly used conscripted soldiers to fight in OTHER lands they invaded to do the dirty work for them and given they were never given full citizenship and were also in a sense hostage, allowing them freedom of travel through aetheryte is just odd to me. i also would find it odd if conscripts were to directly report to the capital versus the viceroys of their station being the highest command they’d meet. i assume prisoners are sometimes kept on garlean soil and nyja & sol in my story were but again…Why would you let prisoners use aetherytes. i dunno i feel the garlemald section did some things cool (anima) but dropped the ball on really delving deeper into what garlean imperialism meant in favor of Weeee are so brainwashed and we didnt knoowwwww lol & so just like. Didnt gaf about the details

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voidsentprinces · 4 months

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I enjoy Jullus. Here is a character who joined the Garlean Military to protect his lands from what he was taught was the "Savages" coming to drag his friends and families away. He stuck to his guns and stood fast against rumors of Zenos's death and being possessed by the Ascians. He keeps to his values even though they are clearly flawed because that is what his family needs. And then, Zenos kills the Emperor and the Capital is razed with his family inside it. He is drenched in the colour palette of the expansion, despair. But, there is a sliver of hope, word has it the Emperor's voice can still be heard on the radiowaves. There is something still worth fighting for, he can fight against the monsters who are overrunning the capital, he can serve Garlemald and the memory of his family against the invading Savages who have finally arrived on his doorstep.

He pushes himself in the roll of a soldier, who is ignorant of the Eorzeans. But Alisaie and Alphinaud both show us how greatly they've grown. By trying to break through his indoctronation. They are the perfect candidates to break through to Jullus but they are not just bright and kind individuals. But they might also been the same age as his siblings were before their untimely demise. They carry with them, a want to aid and a hope that someday they'll break through. And slowly, overtime, going to do chore after chore. We slowly learn of Jullus and what he had gone through.

We are the Warrior of Light, the daemon who wiped out the Praetorium and many Castrums, the nightmare that haunts his fellow soldiers. But still, he sees how the people in other provinces gather around us as a legend of hope and light through the dark. And dark through radiant blight. He confides in us, warms to us, gets to know us and the twins. But he still clings harshly to his sunk cost fallacy. He still wants to do right by his nation and his family's memory. So he reluctantly arms the Twins collars and prepares for a suicidal attack on Camp Broken Glass. Only to learn that no reinforcement is coming. There is no one else to defend the nation of Garlemald. Just his skeleton crew of the remaining 1st Legion. And so, he surrenders as his own Legatus uses his blood to strengthen the remaining chain of what remains of Garlemald.

He comes face to face with Zenos and fosters his grief and rage at the Prince who caused him so much pain and suffering. And in return, he is met by apathy and indifference and a question, that had Zenos had a good reason for throwing Jullus' and so many others' lives in turmoil, if it would of justified it all? Jullus is confronted by this and sees that the atrocities were without purpose only the boredom of a man seeking to reach the Warrior of Light for a duel. It is absurd and yet it clears Jullus's mind, his last act as a soldier for the Empire is to exile the prince and denounce the Royal Family more or less. He then follows Alphinaud and Alisaie's example and turns his focus to build a brighter future for Garlemald. Welcoming their help and our aid in the coming conflict. And when we bring another exile who is closed off from the world in Zero who is beginning to open up, he offers her the same kindness and understanding as the Twins gave him. He then continues their mission by trying to convince the old rigid remaining Garlean council to see that they cannot remain closed off from the world. Something that Vrtra rekindles by opening trade with the fallen Empire now budding independent nation.

I look forward to see what they so with Garlemald. This Empire founded to sow misery and chaos by Emet-Selch's design. Now having to bear responsibility for the past sins while kindling good alliances where they can to make what little amends they can. Since they're now burnt to the wick.

Side observation: In a way, Haurchefant's hot chocolate gesture is repeated throughout the MSQ. First the cup of cocoa is given to us, then Alphinaud picks up the torch in finding a way to use it to look forward to the conflict with Nidhogg and Estinien, then we give the Garleans a cup of warm soup and a hearty song, and then Jullus offers up Buuz to Zero. Zero then offers her own power to Golbez to turn the Thirteenth around and return it to as it was before.

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elfyourmother · 1 year

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Princess Gisele wir Galvus, wife to Crown Prince Zenos yae Galvus.

In the Exarch’s timeline, Lyse was able to reach Zenos in time at the Royal Menagerie, and prevented him from taking his own life, instead capturing him for the Resistance. In exchange for the safe return of his heir, Emperor Varis ordered a complete withdrawal of Garlean forces from Doma and Ala Mhigo. But Zenos’ price for returning to Garlemald was Gisele. Varis was furious, but had no choice but to allow it.

She wed Zenos, with the intent of taking down Garlemald from the inside. While she schemed, and bided her time, Varis sent numerous assassins to remove the threat of the woman he hated and feared as The Witch of Ul’dah. In the end, it was the Emperor assassinated; Gisele took the throne, for Zenos was indifferent to it, but before she could free the provinces and dismantle Garlemald’s armies, she perished to one last parting gift from her old foe: Black Rose, released by Varis' loyalists.

When word reached Eorzea of her death, Ishgard marched upon the imperial capital, and King Aymeric burned it to the ground by dragonfire. As for Zenos...his fate was unknown, but it was said he threw open the gates of the imperial palace to the conquerers, and walked away in indifference. The one spark in his life was gone, and there was nothing left for him to lose.

#gisele surana #zenos yae galvus #zenos viator galvus #zenoswol #bisho's adventures in gpose #otp: wild hunt #yep the dreamverse is an official canonical au now #maybe one day i'll write this fic #but it hurts too much

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driftward · 8 months

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Title: FFXIV Write 2023 - 3. Soulmate Characters: Liana kir Vaux, Papanan kir Sosonan, Datum lux Lorimus Rating: Teen Summary: The Nyx Project has run into some problems, but its newest member may have found a solution. This happens approximately twenty years before ARR. Notes: Thanks to @yzeltia for the word prompt for today. CW: Mild gore, frank discussion of an autopsy-like activity

The dead body of another hybrid Allagan creation lay on the bench in the Garlean laboratory. It looked for all the world like a Miqo'te, a Keeper of the Moon, with rounded pupils and skin a shade of deep blue so dark it almost appeared black. Giving away its artificial nature was the pulling back of the flesh as rot had set in, and in those places where the flesh had pulled back far enough, one could see the dark goldish hue of what was presumably Allagan technology. Flesh wrapped around what had previously been an ambulatory metal skeleton, an automaton of some sort.

It had lasted for three days after activation. The rot had started at thin black lines on the creature's skin, initially too thin to be seen, but those lines were where the flesh had first pulled away from the skeleton as the thing degraded. And as its flesh rotted, so too seemed its mind. While it had initially been able to follow simple orders, it rapidly grew to misinterpret them, or to seem to not hear them at all. And then, at last, it had collapsed, twitching and flailing in violent seizure, as its body collapsed to the floor, and some hours later, stopped moving.

Three days, and those three days represented a new record for for how long those scientists working on the Nyx Project had managed to keep one of the creatures running. The project, overall, was an attempt by the Garlean empire to capitalize on their ownership of certain Allagan ruins to bring new technology to life for the empire.

It was not going well.

Liana kir Vaux and Papanan kir Sosonan were now looking the construct over, to see if they could determine what had gone wrong this time. Liana's hands traced over its body, her eyes half-lidded as she attempted to find any thread of aether that might still be coursing through the thing. Papanan in the meanwhile had peeled back layers of polymat skin and artificial muscle to now examine the fine lines of fibers and tiny workings of machinery and circuitry that existed deep within.

Neither of them looked up when the door to the area opened. The only people who came this far into the Castrum, who were even permitted into the space, were those working on the project. And neither of them paused in their work when the swearing started, followed by the exclamation of their fellow scientist.

"Emperor preserve, that smells awful. Find out why it failed yet?" Said Datum lux Lorimus.

Papanan just glanced up at Liana, who nodded and stood with a sigh, stretching her back out as she did so.

"Same as number six. Everything appears to be in order, but the organic components refuse to maintain their vitality. And I believe Papanan has found that the fiber harness is all intact, but with no signals, there's no motion."

Papanan harrumphed. "Going to have to crack this one open too, I suspect."

Liana looked over to Datum. "I thought you would still be working on translation."

Datum went over to the nearby console. "Not anymore. We're fortunate. There's been a breakthrough. Some original tomestones have been found that I believe are related to whatever work was being done here, and I came here to review them in the original Allagan. Whatever work it was that E'lan jen Tia did is practically a waste. He was translating a translation of a translation - others' interpretations of what they found when they came across these ruins over the eons."

"Too many layers removed, then, I take it?" asked Liana mildly. Papanan barked a laugh.

"Well, unless you want to try to wake up the next unit and find it a soulmate using a spiritual fishing hook. All we have to do is dangle it in the deep blue sea and wait, apparently, according to what E'lan had translated. Ah, if it was only that easy. Maybe I'd have stayed in dear sweet Thanalan and found myself a wife instead of a calling," said Papanan.

"Careful," warned Datum.

"Please. If the Frumentarium wants me gone, they know where to find me, and I'll hand them the noose."

"I just would rather not have anything happen to either of you," said Datum quietly, as he sat down at the console and connected the tomestone to its interface.

"Come around on us savages then?" asked Papanan.

"Don't antagonise him, Papanan," said Liana, to Papanan's shrug.

"...whatever happened to that E'lan fellow, anyroad?" asked Datum, gently shifting the topic as the tomestone loaded in.

"I rather suspect he found he could not stomach what we were doing to what looked rather uncomfortably like kin to him. This work is rather gruesome. Macabre, even. Morbid, if you will. Ghastly. Downright ghoulish."

Liana just sighed and Pananan chuckled to himself.

"You know," he continued, "It's interesting. Every single one of these we've dug up has looked like quite the fetching young Miqo'te woman. It's weird. It's like how, you know, most Spoken undead seem to be Hyurs for whatever reason."

"The running theory is that the Hyur constitution is balanced in such a way as to favor necromantic energies," said Liana. "I do not know that there is any truth to that. I think it's perhaps just bias. You can find Hyur almost anywhere, so you find plenty of Hyur undead. There are plenty of Duskwight undead in Gelmorran ruins, as a counterpoint, but you do not find my people far from there often."

"Hmn, just so, maybe."

Datum just nodded as the tomestone finished loading, and he began to read carefully through its output. Liana and Papanan returned to their work.

It was nearly a bell later when Datum sat up suddenly. Neither Liana nor Papanan noticed, both of them still deep in the work of disassembling the construct.

"What was that you said earlier. About a soulmate?" he asked.

"Eh?" replied Papanan, who had only been halfway paying attention. "Oops," he said a moment later, as he dropped a spinal linkage.

"Careful," admonished Liana quietly. "It won't hold as well now that we've detached the myomer."

"Soulmate. You mentioned earlier that E'lan thought that these constructs needed soulmates."

"Oh, right, that. No, it was really ridiculous. He thought we needed to attach a spiritual fishing hook into the main assembly, then dangle it into a deep blue sea until we got a soulmate for it."

Datum frowned, and he turned back to his console, rapidly flipping back and forth between different sections of his reading.

"Was that exactly what he said?"

"Hells if I remember."

"Close, as I remember it. Not just any sea - he specifically said the depths of the Azure sea," said Liana.

"Which is ridiculous. They're all blue."

"... oh, he was close," said Datum, a trace of excitement in his voice.

Liana and Papanan now both fully stopped in their work. "Datum?" asked Liana. "What have you found?"

Datum just turned and looked. "Can you get flip it over? Open up the back of its main chassis? I want to see something."

"...sure. Hang on, let's back up, it's heavy. Let the arm handle it," said Papanan.

Liana nodded, and went over to operate a big crane with a large hand at the end of it, flipping the construct over. Once it was flipped, the three scientists moved back in, and Liana reached her fingers in underneath the shoulder blades, and pulled off a large panel of muscle and skin off its back.

Datum covered his nose, and moved in closer, his fingers tracing over the exposed metal that had been hidden in the torso.

"Can we open that?"

"Sure, hang on," said Papanan, as he picked up a nearby tomestone and started connecting it to the construct using fiber cables.

Liana looked over at Datum and raised an eyebrow.

"You know that thing that's over in section three - the so-called Cauldron Boundary Unit?" said Datum.

Liana nodded. "We've had no luck making any use of it. It claims to be a forge, but anything we drop in it just gets dissolved into aether and byproduct."

Datum nodded to the construct as Papanan finished hooking up the wiring. "I think it was meant for these."

Liana frowned at Datum, but he ignored her as he just stepped forward to watch while Papanan thumbed some controls on his tomestone, opening the metal inner shell of the construct. The areas where its shoulder blades had been folded upward, revealing its inner workings. A deeply complicated nest of wiring and unrecognizable machinery, dominated by a central sphere that it all seemed to either be connected to or harnessed around, suspended in the chest cavity. Datum reached out, and touched a hand to it, glancing back and forth down at his own tomestone.

"Artifacted nethicite."

"E'lan was pretty sure that word was meant to be 'auracite'," said Papanan idly, and Datum just shook his head.

"We've no other translation for it, but the phonetics in the original Allagan are obvious. Whatever it is - that serves as a core for these things. Do we have access to the aether transfer array here? I want to try to charge it."

"I can take care of that," said Liana. "What are you trying to do?"

"I just want to see what will happen."

"Might want to see what will happen a bit further back, if you think this will get it going again," said Papanan. "You weren't there for the seizures, but don't be fooled - it looks like a little Miqo'te, but that thing's muscle density is way higher than it should be, and it's a fast bastard when it's up."

"It's got nerves different from we do," said Liana, explaining as she set up the aetheric array. "Faster or broader or something. When it moves, it really moves. Its twitch motion is nearly twice as fast as any other Spoken."

"I... think I shall be over here, then," said Datum nervously, and Papanan went with him. Liana ducked down from where she was standing.

"Ready when you are."

Datum took a deep breath, and nodded. "Fix release."

Liana triggered a switch, and a steady beam of aether flowed from a crystalline array in the ceiling, aimed at the torso of the construct. Rather than flowing around it or dissipating into nether, the aether seemed to just flow into the core and stop there.

For several long minutes, nothing further happened. Liana stuck her head up over the console, while Papanan leaned out from where he was hiding. Datum, however, just watched intensely.

"Can't keep this up much longer," said Liana, looking over her readouts. "We got another minute before I'll need to turn it off and let our stores refill and the system recharge."

"Keep at it," said Datum.

And then, the core gained the faintest glow, hard to see from around the aether stream pouring into it. The construct began to twitch violently, seeming to vibrate in place as its whole body twitched, its fingers and toes violently and rapidly curling and uncurling. It began to make a low, unsettling guttural groan.

Datum grimaced. "That's enough. Shut it down."

Liana did so, and as the aether stream faded away, so did the glow from the construct's core, and its body settled back down to become still.

Papanan put his hands on his hips, and nodded, looking to Datum. "Well well well! That's progress. What is it you've got, then?"

Datum stood up, and began to fiddle with the accoutrements to his lab coat. "Well. I think that has proven several things. We won't be able to get the core online with just aether alone. But I know what will, now."

He looked to the other two. "We don't need to find them soulmates. What we need is to mate a soul to them - to quicken their cores. E'lan's translations were from secondary sources, but I see how he got them. It's not a spiritual fishing hook. It's a soul gig, and it's part of the Cauldron Boundary Unit. It's called a cauldron because it's the last step in forging one of these to completion. As for the boundary part - the cauldron leads deep down, we know that much. How far down has been a matter of speculation, but I suspect I know now. Far enough down to reach the aetherial sea."

"That's preposterous," said Papanan, but Liana just frowned and looked thoughtful.

"And that's the last puzzle piece of E'lan's translation. Not a deep blue sea, but rather, into the Azure Sea - a common enough name for the aetherial sea by civilizations past, owing due to the nature of its color."

"I understand," said Liana. "By using the cauldron to go past the boundary of the material, the Allagans thought to perhaps attach a soul to it to help power and maintain it."

"Ridiculous," said Papanan, but there was no real dissent to his voice as he looked up at the crystal transfer idea. "The idea that we would be attaching a soul to this thing seems quite beyond what even the Allagans were capable of. But, we have one of the most powerful aetheric transfer systems that have ever been devised in the modern era. I propose instead that if this cauldron does lead to the sea, or even if it does not, it leads to somewhere with deep aetheric capability. I suspect what we will be doing instead is simply charging the core. Hardly needs a soul for explanation. We saw it start moving."

Liana crossed her arms. "Perhaps leave the theorizing on the nature of aether to the aetherlogical expert."

"Oh, sure, if you'll leave the machinery to the mechanical expert. I'm telling you, this thing doesn't need a soul, just some juice, and maybe something to keep it from rotting. A dense source of aether just might do the trick."

"In either case, we know what we have to do next," said Datum. "I shall inform Kyb mal Donos. Perhaps we can get another extension while we retrieve more of these... frames."

"It's just a body. No need to get prissy about it," said Papanan, grinning up at Datum. Datum just shook his head.

"Whatever the case is, we know what we need to do next."

"Do we?" asked Liana. "And what of the current experiment? We've not gotten one to start moving again before."

"It's still half rotted. You two may be used to the smell, but we'll need to show these things to the Legatus eventually. Once the system's recharged, try again, make sure we can replicate the findings. Liana, maybe try to see if you can bind a familiar to it, we'll see if that's enough to keep them moving without having to resort fully to trying to see if we can get the Cauldron Boundary Unit to do what we want. But when you're done, just consign it to the graveyard. I'm going to report back to Kyb. Any questions?"

"No questions." "Nothing from me."

Datum just nodded, and then looked down at the weird hybrid construct once more.

"We'll get one of you to life yet," he said.

#ffxivwrite2023 #final fantasy xiv #liana kir vaux #papanan kir sosonan #datum lux lorimus #soulmate #202309-04 #biot writes #cw: gore

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emc2beans · 6 months

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I may have missed Gwynedd's nameday but I didn't forget about Llewellyn! To celebrate, I am posting Chapter 0 of a fic I'm working on. Sort of a 'what are some of the other characters doing while WoL is busy WoL-ing' with some OC x Canon because I can't help myself.

Join me as I dump further emotional turmoil on some teens and 20-somethings who are already going to be traumatized by the narrative.

***

Chapter 0: Meet the Grufuds

(Takes place post-Heavensward)

The streets of Limsa Lominsa were buzzing with activity, from the stalls of Hawkers Alley down to the docks themselves. At present, Alphinaud was doing his best to keep up with the towering Warrior of Light, Gwynned Grufud, as they sought to fill a list of requests given to them by Tataru. It was mostly things that they would have had a hard time finding in Revenant’s Toll. Additionally, their main reason for venturing to the capital of Vylbrand was the fact that there was an important shipment to pick up from the shipyard. A crate of rare tomes sent from Sharlayan, at Scions’ request, that required an escort back to the Rising Stones. Tataru had informed them that they were scheduled to meet with the captain of this particular vessel at a certain time, but Gwynedd was adamant that they could be there as early as they wanted and would not elaborate as to why she was so certain.

The ship itself was easy to find. It was much larger than the other mercantile vessels and sported a long, pointed prow covered in plates of what was likely pillaged Garlean steel. On the steel was engraved The Hullripper, completing the image of this imposing ship. As Alphinaud expected, the gangplank had not been lowered.

“I believe we are still a bit early.” He wanted to give Gwynedd the benefit of the doubt as she was friendly with many of the crews that frequented the Lominsan docks.

“Give me a mo’.” Gwynedd smiled and put two fingers to her lips. She blew two short whistles, then waited. From the deck of the ship came a chorus of three shrill whistles, a perfect call and response. A few moments later, the gangplank was lowered and Alphinaud could hear faint giggles coming from on deck. Gwynedd waved him along as she quickly jogged up the gangplank. Alphinaud followed behind, unprepared for what was waiting for them.

“Gwyn’s back, Gwyn’s back!” Five children, the youngest at about six and the oldest looking to be around eleven or twelve, swarmed the woman.

“Where have you been? Did you really fight a dragon like you said in your letters?” A little miqo’te girl asked as she climbed up Gwynedd’s clothes to reach her shoulder.

“How did you kill Titan? And Leviathan? Tell me!!!” A slightly older hyur boy bounced excitedly as he shouted his questions, clinging to the leg of Gwynedd’s trousers.

“Who did you bring with you? Hi!” A floppy-eared viera girl leaned around Gwynedd to wave at Alphinaud.

“Yes, I did fight a dragon, Nari. I’ll tell ye the stories later, Screech, but I’m here on business.” She pulled the hyuran boy off of her leg and turned to Alphinaud. “Meet my little siblings. Siblings, meet my friend Alphinaud.” Gwynedd proceeded to introduce the children from oldest to youngest; Matia (viera girl, 11), Cavato (lalafell boy, 10), Syrus a.k.a. Screech (hyur boy, 8), Fiona (elezen girl, 8), and L’nari (miqo’te girl, 6). “Now then, where’s the captain?” Gwynedd asked, looking around the deck.

“Muu-uumm! Daa-aaadd!! Gwynedd’s home!!!” L’nari shouted, making Gwynedd wince. The doors leading below deck swung open and out stepped two older roegadyn.

“Gwyn! Gods, lass, how long’s it been since ye left us?” The woman clad in a dark green jacket and tricorn hat hurried over and pulled Gwynedd into a tight hug.

“Too long, Mum, too long.” She replied, smiling at the pair. The man, Gwynedd’s father, took his turn embracing his eldest daughter and then plucked the little miqo’te from her shoulder.

“L’nari, wha’ ‘ave I said about climbin’ folks?” He asked the girl as she wriggled her way around to hang onto his back instead. Gwynedd chuckled heartily and put a hand on Alphinaud’s shoulder.

“Mum, Dad, I’d like you to meet Alphinaud Leveilleur, pretty certain I’ve mentioned him in my letters. Alphinaud, allow me to introduce Captain Angharad Grufud and her first mate Rhodri Grufud, my parents.” She beamed with pride.

“A pleasure to meet you. Gwynedd has told me much about you.” Alphinaud felt extremely small next to the three towering, muscular roegadyn. Of the two, Gwynedd definitely looked more like her father in both face and stature, being solidly built and sharp-jawed.

“Aye, and am I to understand that you two are also here for that crate of Sharlayan books? Your brother’s been itching to get at them, Gwyn, should nobody show up to collect.” Angharad smiled.

“Don’t worry, Alphie, I’ve only got one more sibling on this ship.” Gwynedd said, sensing her companion’s confusion as to just how big this family was. “You and he are about the same age, if memory serves. Come on, I’ll take you to say hello.” She led Alphinaud towards the captain’s quarters at the back of the ship. With no warning, she kicked the doors open and charged inside. “Welly, I’m ba-ack!”

“Wha- hey, Gwyn- ahk! Put me down!” The occupant of the room protested. Alphinaud carefully stopped the swinging doors and entered. Inside, Gwynedd had a younger roegadyn man in a bear hug, fully lifting him off of the ground. Laughing heartily, Gwynedd put her brother down.

“This is my baby brother, Welly!” She slapped her brother’s back firmly.

“Llewellyn Grufud, pleasure to meet you.” He offered a handshake and a smile to Alphinaud, who returned the gestures in kind.

“Alphinaud Leveilleur, and the pleasure is mine.” Alphinaud could definitely see that Llewellyn and Gwynedd were related, but Llewellyn lacked his sister’s roughened edges. He was also much shorter, and built from lean muscle rather than being broad and chiseled from stone like most roegadyn. He had a gentle face, piercing sea-green eyes, an adorably lopsided smile, soft-looking lips… Alphinaud could feel the tips of his ears turning red. Twelve preserve, had he been staring? He pulled his hand back and cleared his throat.

“Ah, right, you must be here for the books! One moment, please. I’ll go grab them from the hold.” Llewellyn moved towards the door but Gwynedd’s hand on his shoulder stopped him.

“I’ll get it, I know what I’m looking for. Why don’t you show Alphinaud all your fancy navigation stuff.” She waved at the map laid out on the center table and the instruments sitting on it, then made a quick exit.

~~~

Llewellyn internally cursed his sister for leaving him awkwardly alone with, and for embarrassing him in front of, someone new (and cute). At least she had suggested discussing something Llewellyn was competent in. He explained the finer points of his modifications of the standard route from Limsa to Kugane, all while Alphinaud listened with rapt attention. His attentive, deep blue eyes followed along as Llewellyn traced the line of the route, the sunlight coming in from the window sparkling through the elezen’s platinum-white hair. Alphinaud asked him a question and Llewellyn was grateful for the distraction. Suddenly, the doors creaked open again.

“Hope you two didn’t get into any trouble while I was gone.” Gwynedd grinned, the large crate of books tucked under her arm.

“No, no, Llewellyn was just showing me how he charted the ship’s next course. It was fascinating.” He glanced back at the other teen, a light pink dusting his cheeks. “Perhaps, if you ever find yourself near Mor Dhona, you could come to the Rising Stones and I’ll show you some of the books on astral triangulation we have there.” Alphinaud suggested. “Only if you’re interested, of course.”

“Sure!” Llewellyn reigned in his enthusiasm. “I-I’d like that.”

“I look forward to it. Until then.” Alphinaud smiled warmly and went back out onto the deck. Gwynedd gave her brother a thumbs-up and followed her companion out, closing the doors behind her. Llewellyn wanted to scream, both at the elated feeling in his chest and at his insufferable sister’s behavior.

~~~

As he unpacked the Sharlayan books, organizing them based on which of his fellow Scions had requested which book, Alphinaud’s mind began to wander. He had never realized just how much family the Warrior of Light had; she had never even mentioned being raised on a ship. It shouldn’t have surprised him as much as it did, as Gwynedd had been protective and nurturing towards him since their first meeting. She likely saw similarities between himself and her brother, Llewellyn.

Alphinaud recalled his recent introduction to Llewellyn Grufud. The rough, warm skin of hand, his genuine smile and brilliant teal eyes, and on top of that he was very tall. Llewellyn even seemed interested in some of the same things he was and he hoped that they would have the chance to talk again. The sudden, giddy flutter in his chest made Alphinaud pause. He did want to see Llewellyn again, to get to know him better, but was there something else beneath the simple desire for friendship? It wasn’t as if Alphinaud lacked friends, it was just that the Scions were all much older than him and his schoolmates back in Sharlayan were often… behind him in terms of academics and maturity.

He recalled the times at the Studium where male classmates would mistake him for his sister, the confusion undercut with excitement when they flirted with him. That excitement was something he would always quickly squash down. Not that he thought there was anything wrong with the idea of two men being romantically involved, but he had his family’s reputation and future to think about, something his father had so often impressed the importance of upon him. Sharlayan was not terribly accepting of deviance from the prescribed norms, either. Alphinaud put the book in his hand down with a sigh.

Even if he was going to allow himself to consider the idea of dating another boy, he was assuming a lot in terms of what Llewellyn was interested in. It was better to hope for a comfortable friendship, like the one Alphinaud had fostered with Arenvald back when the Scions were still at the Waking Sands. He felt a little bit better as he formulated this course of action, firmly ignoring any emotions that would change his course.

#This will eventually intertwine with a story focusing more on Isolde I just havent written it yet #also fun fact the draft ver of this is called the 'gay baby saga'#I'll post to AO3 and reblog this with the link tomorrow #ffxiv oc stuff #writing stuff #ffxiv oc #wolphinaud #(sort of. Llewellyn isn't a wol he's just the teenaged little brother of one)#ANYWAY look upon me fic #Me: *slaps roof of Alphinaud* This elf can fit so much internalized disdain for nonconformity in him

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