#the sorrow of werlyt

[aethris-art]

Children yelling: MCDONALDS MCDONALDS MCDONALDS

#werlyt #the sorrow of werlyt #gaius van baelsar #ffxiv art #shadowbringers #shadowbringers spoilers #FFXIV #aethris art #I loved Werlyt so much I cried a lot

[cosmicseashanty]

I drew this ahead of the Tataru quest in Werlyt and I dunno, I feel like I predicted the vibe fairly well

#ffxiv #albi re'oh #gaius baelsar #albael #gaiuswol #the sorrow of werlyt #my art #2023

[pumpkinmagekupo]

So I finally finished this quest line the other day.

I got very teary eyed at the end ;-;

#gaius van baelsar #The Sorrow of Werlyt #big emotions

[dawntrailing]

"I'm sorry, Father. We've come too far to back down now."

#ffxiv #final fantasy series #final fantasy xiv #final fantasy xiv: shadowbringers #rex #emerald weapon #the sorrow of werlyt #castrum marinum #ffxivedits #rex sitting with his back turned: i've been expecting you hero of eorzea #wol: how did you do that without turning around #rex: to be perfectly honest the first couple of people i did that to were not you

[nosafeharbour]

Encyclopedia Eorzea III: Werlyt thoughts

How is this the second Werlyt thoughts/reactions post I've written in 2023. The Sorrow of Werlyt ended over 2 years ago

This is literally just Werlyt (so also Gaius and Raen) musings, I'll actually finish reading the rest of the book later...

It's beautiful. I've looked at this for 24 hours now

Holy shit, all this Werlyt lore… Gaius was viceroy of Werlyt for TWENTY YEARS?? In-game it sounded like he led the invasion during the epidemic 10 years ago, when you see him adopt the Raen kids, but otherwise wasn’t too deeply involved... but it was under Garlean control since the very start of the Empire? Gaius came into the picture midway through, after it briefly rebelled.

"A young Gaius van Baelsar" capturing Werlyt when he was 30... I guess him being legatus in his thirties makes complete sense with the timeframe of Ala Mhigo, but having it spelled out so plainly… wow

Thinking about the memory of Gaius in the Emerald Weapon trial being a 30 year old is so funny. You jumped-up little shit

It’s hard to pin down dates because everything is measured in years after Werlyt was taken, without it ever giving a starting date, but you can work backwards… the rebellion 30 years post conquering + 20 years of Gaius as viceroy + 5 years before ARR when Gaius begins advance on Eorzea in 1.0 = 55 years ago. The Empire is also 55 years old, which lines up:

Between 55 and 455 years ago: Werlyt is founded (happens after Gyr Abania is unified, but Werlyt is still described as “newly formed” when it was conquered, so definitely closer on the scale to 55)

55 years ago: Werlyt falls under the Empire

25 years ago: While the Empire is stretched thin conquering the Far East, the Werlytians stage a revolt and retake the province. Gaius comes in to quell it, and becomes viceroy after the previous one is killed (Gaius is 31 yrs old) (This is also the year Doma is conquered, so that also lines up)

20 years ago: Ala Mhigo is conquered, Gaius is also made viceroy there

15 years ago: Gaius’s fuckup at the Battle of Silvertear, and when he starts to lose favour in Garlemald

10 years ago: The epidemic, when the Raen kids are orphaned

5 years ago: Gaius leaves for the invasion of Eorzea (1.0), which eventually leaves Valens as viceroy after the events at the Praetorium

Did the epidemic happen under his watch? The flashback of him first reaching out to Allie and Alfonse makes sense to be 10 years ago, but the energy of that scene was very much “arriving to a situation” and not that… it was already under his jurisdiction…

I don’t know how I feel about the change of context here, at least in my understanding of it. It honestly feels a bit of a shock that Werlyt has been under the Empire for 50 years? They never stated any specific years, but I always read it as a decade or so? Long enough for it to become their new lives, short enough that people still remember life before. Gaius coming in to “save” Werlyt from the epidemic by way of conquering it was this mixed bag that ultimately did build towards his character thesis of “good intentions stuck in a bad system”. To think the epidemic technically happened under his watch is new and strange, I dunno. I need to replay it with this in mind to see if it checks out

Especially with that one post-Emerald scene where Gaius is all “Things were shit in MY legion? But I ran a tight ship” lmao… I know a lot of people take the piss out of that scene thinking that he was only discovering racism for the first time in his life (he literally has scenes in ARR about stamping out discrimination in his Legion), but I always read it as his ego meaning he believed that his influence and word over his Legion was immovable, that nobody would behave that way because he told them not to. It complements his view that he always thought he was doing good, but not yet having had the blinders of being a cog in the fascist system removed. These things will always still happen. It would be good to see that scene again, with all this context of the epidemic happening during his time as viceroy... If the times are all correct, I feel like him being stretched thin between Ala Mhigo and Werlyt is a part of this

The “all the good Gaius had achieved” line in regards to him building up Werlyt as viceroy makes me wince, while I do like engaging with Gaius having good intentions, just talking about all the good he did and not the fact it was still a conquered territory + the epidemic? Even I’m balking at that, and I’m a Gaius enjoyer. Slow down here. I’m looking at the artwork of destroyed Werlyt from when he re-conquered it right below this paragraph LOL

The Raen of Werlyt migrating there directly from Corvos, to the point that their religion and food is still Corvosi-inspired... seeing it spelled out so plainly after this incredibly fleeting and brief image from FanFest... wow. I get to feel even more insane over Corvos, now

Really curious about the timeframes, still. If Raen only arrived in Werlyt a little over 50 years ago, in one fell swoop they have turned Albi's Welytian grandmother into a Corvosi grandmother

Werlyt religion being polytheistic, seemingly a fusion of the Twelve and Corvosi religion… I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CORVOS…

I love the kind of demographics you get from these books:

Werlyt currently undergoing negotiations with Ul’dah for ceruleum, so they can continue mining… Gaius overseeing said negotiations in Ul’dah, Ul’dah is Albi’s turf... Thinking about them in Ul’dah together. It’s actually so fun thinking about Gaius visiting so many Eorzean city states as an envoy. He’s helping, but also he’s keeping his god damn head down (or in a chicken suit)

Werlyt’s main food being stewed dishes is just another thing that lines up with what I imagined, mostly just because it’s what I figured Albi and Gaius would eat a lot (both from cold places, they both know how to cook simple stuff but aren’t master culinarians)

Cheese being a major export to Garlemald, and there being a major cheese presence in Garlemald already (via Ovibos milk, so native to Garlemald itself and not all imported)... cheese lore

There’s way too much dairy talk in here, “dairy enthusiasts” pleeeeasseeee stop making my favourite place like this when I’m lactose intolerent

After The Sorrow of Werlyt says that Terncliff is too high above the ocean to fish, but then Tataru’s Grand Endeavour had orphans collecting seashells, I was so confused on whether or not Werlyt has beaches or not. I’m glad they clarified that there are a few harbours amongst the cliffs.

All of this geography and agriculture lore is neat just in that it’s showing that Werlyt is really quite big. You never really get a full sense of scale in-game, between Terncliff and what we see of the main Werlyt town (?) during Emerald trial/post-Diamond

We have three Werlytian surnames – Hunte, Souther, and Horne!

Severa Souther and Valdeaulin Ganathain… I care them. Severa is only 23, bless her heart. Valdeaulin being 48 is just exactly what I’d assumed/hoped.

The leader of the interim government is Talbot Hunte. Have we seen him..? I’m picturing the Revolutionary Commander in my mind when I read that, but I don't think he was ever named

All of these Werlytian names (surnames, and Hyur first names) have a Germanic feel, while Severa and the Raen kids have Latin-based names. The Raen in Werlyt originate from Corvos, so I am hoping it’s because they are sticking to Corvos being the root of the Latin-based Garlean language, as it should be? Severa had a Garlean parent? Hmm

Bereft at the casual mention of “the bravery of the Baelsars and the Warrior of Light”… THE BAELSARS

Kind of sad they straight-coded Milisandia by giving her a crush on Alfonse. That lizard was one of the gay ones :/

I think Gaius is possibly the first character to get a second Encyclopedia Eorzea entry. I was hoping he would, but had low expectations bc they've never given any other recurring characters new entries... but they did this, for me

“... and though his quest for vengeance would claim the masks of Altima and Deudalaphon, the hunt for Ascians was quickly set aside when he learned of the Empire’s plans to produce the noxious weapon Black Rose” – Black Rose is important and thematic, but seeing the Ascian plot dropped so abruptly even in this book is breaking my heart all over again LMAO

So extremely cool that there are 6 pages just about the Ultima Weapons!! Including the Allagan iterations, the original ARR project, and the second project during Werlyt

I do like the line “According to the testimony of Gaius Baelsar…” in the section about the Ultima Weapon, about how Lahabrea guided them to it. Gaius sat and gave testimony to the Alliance about a lot of things, huh!

I also like the confirmation that Proto-Ultima is the last iteration the Allagans made, and that all the visuals of the Ultima Weapon are magitek and Garlean-made. It’s hard to tell, since the earlier Ultima Warrior has them too, but the fact that Ultima Weapon’s horns look like Gaius’s helmet means it was done on purpose… kinda moe. Nero trying to impress his legatus

Interesting that the Heart of Sabik is mentioned so clearly, and that Valens knew he couldn’t recreate it… but still acquired a piece of Ivalician auracite to base the Oversoul system on. Reading this all post-Pandaemonium is enlightening

Seems that the “third eye” looking chestpiece on the cuirass of legatus armour is the synthetic auracite they used for the same purpose as soul crystals! Having a visual on that is neat

Another extremely obvious hint that Nero made the second (red) G-Savior, which only makes Gaius not finding out he was still alive until Tataru’s Grand Endeavour so funny/weird. Nero literally must have been in Werlyt!! The Ironworks were talking about him constantly! Gaius, are you stupid! (yeah)

#lore #the sorrow of werlyt #reactions

[sniperct]

To the people on the dev team who clearly have a love of Pacific Rim and Gundam, bless you.

#final fantasy xiv #the sorrow of werlyt #tataru's grand endeavor #6.4 spoilers #an appropriate storyline about what war does to people too

[yzeltia]

FFXIVwrite2023 3.[FD] Gundam

Characters: Keith Summers, G'khenna Summers, Gaius van Baelsar Expansion: Endwalker Rating: G Note: Thanks @matrixdragon for the Prompt! Apologies that I know next to nothing about Gundam!

"Fist of Leviathan! Gooooooo," Keith roared, gripping his right control and slamming it forward.

The Emerald Gundam propelled forward, striking the primal Bahamut in the jaw with a blast before pummeling the creature in the neck, preventing a flare. Behind him, the Diamond Gundam zipped around in a circle, forming a ring of cerulean and aether filled  before they fired off into the belly of the beast.

"Great work Khenna," a gruff voice called out into the coms.

"Pops! That you? Any weak points on this guy- Waugh!" 

Keith screamed as the beast reached out and caught him in its paw.

"Daddy! No," G'khenna called out, watching the suit spark in the grasp, "What do I do Commander Baelsar!?"

"Your sword! Cut him free."

G'khenna nodded, smashing a button on her console, releasing her beam saber. She took the blade into the Diamond Gundam's hand, holding it tight then wishing hard to hit her mark. Grabbing her console handles, she swung them forward.

"Let my father go! Icebrand!," she yelled, slicing through Bahamaut's wrist, detaching the creature's hand. 

It cried out, howling as it frothed with aetheric charges. G'khenna swooped in, loosing her father from the dragon's grasp.

"Thanks for the save! I thought I was a gimmer for sure," he panted. 

"You can thank your daughter when you've landed," Gaius interjected in the coms, "Strike the beast down before it gets past you and dooms us all!"

"Yeah Yeah. I'm on it Pops," Keith huffed, pulling down a visor and standing, "Gestalt Mode Engaged! Fourth Heaven!"

The Emerald Gundam burst forth. Synced to the robot, Keith attacked with a flurry of blows, ignoring the burning of his aether as he channeled it to pummel the creature. With a final swing of his fist, he uppercut the other's jaw. Knocking the primal out cold.

"Good! Now! Finish him off Khenna," the commander ordered.

"Nooooooooooooooooo," G'khenna wailed.

—

"No," Keith asked, lowering the model of the Emerald weapon in his hand, blinking as his daughter picked up her toy dragon and looked up to him, eyes wide.

"You can't kill him! Miss Koh-a told us that he was just angry because his babies were taken! The heroes just need to calm him down so he can know they're okay now and he can go back to sleep."

Keith smiled, "Alright, then the pilot of the Diamond Gundam swooped up and gave the dragon a big hug and took him back home. How about that," the girl's father offered, picking up the model of the Diamond Weapon to put it with the stuffed dragon. 

The girl sniffled and nodded, "And they prevented a calamity and all had a big parade for the heroes and Bahamut?"

"Yeah," Keith answered, standing up to strike a pose with the model in his hand, "And made heroic statues of them! All of them lived happily-"

"Summers!," Gaius's voice roared.

"Papa Gaius," G'khenna yelled out, hurrying over to hug the man.

The Garlean pat the Miqo'te on the head, brow furrowed, angry gaze fixed on her father, "Is there any particular reason you're playing with secret Garlean tech prototypes?"

Keith swallowed, scratching his cheek as he looked away, "Ah. Well, we got bored waiting for you for dinner and started playing space army with them."

Gaius narrowed his eyes and Keith sweat, knowing he was toast once G'khenna was out of ear shot. Below, the young Miqo'te bounced and tugged on the older man's coat.

"You were a hero too! You helped coordinate us so we could stop Bahamut and reunite him with his other dragons!"

The Garlean stiffened a moment. All traces of tension melted from his face. Taking the girl's hand, he turned and walked her out of his apartment, "I did? Why don't you tell me about it on our way to see Allie for dinner?"

Keith let out a sign of relief then smiled as he watched his daughter excitedly retell the story they made up together. As he put the figures back where found them, he noticed the portrait of Gaius and his family on the wall. 

"We'll keep taking good care of them," he said to the picture before turning to go catch up with them.

#final fantasy xiv #ffxiv #final fantasy 14 #ff14 #ffxiv oc #ff xiv #ffxiv miqo'te #keith summers #G'khenna Summers #gaius van baelsar #the sorrow of werlyt #eureka orthos #ffxivwrite2023 #FFxivwrite #ffxiv write 2023 #gundam #gundam au

[seris-the-ishgard-simp]

Im doing the 6.4 Tartaru Quest and im very certain this happend

#ff14 #ffxiv #viera #ffxiv viera #final fantasy 14 #wol #viera red mage #gpose #Tenercliff #Werlyt #the sorrow of werlyt #gaius van baelsar #gaius #shadowhunter #6.4 spoiler #also im very funny

[taras-bulbasaur]

Whenever people are talking about the things Werlyt did right or wrong I’m always baffled that no one ever brings up the fact that Mr. Cape Westwind was revealed to be hot as fuck. I guess we don’t get the greatest look at Rhitahtyn but we get enough of a look to know he resembles Gladio from FFXV and like, damn, man. I just think we should appreciate him more is all

#final fantasy xiv #rhitahtyn sas arvina #the sorrow of werlyt #there is still only one rhitahtyn/gaius fic on ao3 and it’s mine.

[rigil-kentauris]

i think the other legates would have torn valens to shreds

like im glad he didnt win his little weapons gambit but i would have paid money to see him step foot in the capital and see all thirteen other legates turn slowly and look at him with who is this clown expressions

#legate on legate violence #like okay im sure given the state of the empire that at least a couple of the other legates are idiots but. i think anyone who has spent #more than five minutes playing the high level political game that is Controls Countries #would have a field day peeling valens skin off #i think he is alive because he runs his little game in the middle of nowhere #you know what i also would pay to see zenos turn this man into a toothpick #is he too bored to tears to engage? yes. will valens eventually in his lust for absolute power over the empire do something stupid and try #to dispose of zenos at some point #oh. oh i was THERE to here the way he talked about zenos i KNOW he would #wouldnt even wait #and then zenos would mash him like a banana #ffxiv #the sorrow of werlyt #''im gonna be the emperor!!!' uh huh #WAIT. ITS FANDANIEL WITH A STEEL CHAIR #fcuk legate on legate violence how about clown on clown

[talesfromwerlyt]

#ffxiv #ffxiv spoilers #The Sorrow of Werlyt #gaius van baelsar #gaius baelsar #meme #ffxiv meme #shitpost #ffxiv shitpost

[porta-decumana]

Chapter 14: When Optimism Fails is now on AO3!

“You may be surprised to hear that he would have commended your actions,” Gaius said to Cid, forcing those sad thoughts away from his mind.  He had played them over and over again since that day the XIVth fell.  “Your father, I mean.”

“He would have called me a bleeding heart and laughed in my face,” Cid replied.

“He loved the Empire,” Gaius corrected him.  “But he loved you more.”

As the words came out, he winced.

Cid’s eyes narrowed to slits.  “He had a poor way of showing it.”

“You know that was not him.  The man who died that day was only Midas nan Garlond in body,” Gaius said curtly.

Cid had scarcely anything to say to that.  He rose, pushing the chair angrily away as he did.  Gaius thought to cut him off, to give him that outlet to be mad.  But he hesitated, watching Cid make for the door.

“Courting a damn Ascian to get the Emperor to favor you again.  What were you thinking?” Cid’s voice was quiet.  “Did you ever really see that going well?  Or were you just hoping, Gaius?  You’re damn lucky you’re alive.”

The Wolf was not blind to the hurt in Cid’s voice.  It spoke volumes and Gaius’s head lowered slightly in defeat.

“Desperation makes fools of anyone,” Gaius said.  “That is all I can say to defend my actions.  You see what they have wrought.  That is why you did not give me the report on the Sapphire Weapon.”

Cid grimaced, looking away as he lingered by the doorway.  “You didn’t need to see that.  You already know what the report would have said.”

None of this was news but it still robbed the Wolf of the ability to speak.  He brooded in that room for a bit longer, even after Cid had left.  The silence, the ringing of the lights overhead, it was all deafening.  And Gaius let himself listen to it, drawing out a steady sigh.

#cid garlond #gaius baelsar #gaiuswol #ffxiv fanfiction #ffxiv #shadowbringers #the sorrow of werlyt

[cosmicseashanty]

I once had a dream, and then thought a little, about making goofy little charms of my favourite FFXIV robots. And then I did it. And you know what? It feels good. Don't let your dreams be dreams. If you want to own some robots (but they're small), you can get 'em all here.

Here's my very early concepts, which are cute and funny to look at:

#ffxiv #the sorrow of werlyt #ultima weapon #omega #omega (ffxiv) #omega f #omega m #emerald weapon #diamond weapon #sapphire weapon #ruby weapon #store stuff #2022

[chiclet-go-boom]

after playing FFXIV for awhile, you get to the point where all you want is just a nice, uncomplicated villain. someone to just flat out hate. they need to die, and they need to die yesterday. removing this blight upon nature will be your character's most lauded act.

and dear lord, does The Sorrow of Werlyt deliver.

#ffxiv #the sorrow of werlyt #can we all clap our hands?

[foxlin-fantasia]

glam plate #4 ! :D

Glamour plate #4 - " Flight Suit "

( y'all ever watch a mech anime? lmaoo extra screenies from The Sorrow of Werlyt quests under read more )

get in the damn robot hanaka !!

this was a glam born of anime nonsense

i don't use this jacket v much but i love it here!

love the pretty metallic red boots & matching bow <3

uuuhhh, pls enjoy the screenshots i'm sorry i didn't take many fullbodies

#i have two more asks for these #sorry for being slower than molasses lmao #ty! #final fantasy xiv #ffxiv #ffxiv oc #ffxiv wol #gpose tag #hanaka houjou #ffxiv glamour #ffxiv glam #melee dps glam #dps glam #dragoon glam #ffxiv spoilers #the sorrow of werlyt #sorrow of werlyt #ask game answers #lark-mage

[vermanaward]

.

honestly tho the 'funniest' thing about werlyt to me is that like. in its desperate attempt to make baelsar look better than he is (by repeated comparison to valens, among other things), it actually makes him worse. like he's cut up about his adopted orphan retcons and all but apparently didnt give a single blue fuck about them in the [nebulous period of time] between the end of arr and the end of shb. indeed the only thing he has cared about between times is hunting down ascians in an attempt to avenge his ego and not, idk, the kids he took on and then abandoned to the tender mercies of his not-so-tender former colleagues in a fascist empire which even by his own admission is among other things deeply racist

and yea ik that's because the kids are a post-shb retcon that didn't exist when his 'badass' ascian hunter 'redemption arc' storyline was originally penned and yea ik it'd be on brand for someone like gaius to not be like 'oh right duh' until there's already a body count but man. this is not a compliment!

#shadowbringers spoilers #the sorrow of werlyt