Starting City Quests

A comment in another topic made me realize something.

The starting city quests are not all completed by the Warrior of Light.

What I mean is, the WoL goes and completes all the quests in the game. Race, sex, class does not matter, all can be done by 1 person. But no 1 person can complete all 3 starting city quests. Which then makes me wonder, who did complete those quests?

If I am Gridania WoL, I did not save the Sultana at the tree. Or whatever Limsa people do. Get drunk and pass out in an alley or whatever.

The events with the Sultana still should have happened however. Is the assumption that the Scions took care of those situations on their own in their respective areas?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Necrotica

The events with the Sultana still should have happened however. Is the assumption that the Scions took care of those situations on their own in their respective areas?

---

I guess so. It's that or the situations in the other city-states just didn't happen.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Necrotica

If I am Gridania WoL, I did not save the Sultana at the tree. Or whatever Limsa people do. Get drunk and pass out in an alley or whatever.

---

It's been over a year since I first started the game and I wasn't very absorbed in the early quests, so I don't remember it very well, but I started in Limsa and the starting quests basically involve fighting pirates.

You meet up with a scion or two to help you on the more important bits. They were already investigating the situation, you just happened to be there.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Necrotica

If I am Gridania WoL, I did not save the Sultana at the tree. Or whatever Limsa people do. Get drunk and pass out in an alley or whatever.

The events with the Sultana still should have happened however. Is the assumption that the Scions took care of those situations on their own in their respective areas?

---

I think it's up to you to decide whether it is one of the two possibilities

A): The scions have indeed taken care of things in their respective regions (For example, In your case it will be Thancred who saved the sultana)
or
B): The other starting cities' questlines were done by other adventurers possessed of the Echo and were strong enough to defeat a black-masked ascian

It's up to your imagination and headcanons unless stated otherwise, and that 99% won't happen so yeah. It's up to your imagination.

I like the ambiguity in which the answer lies within our domain/head cannon for us to intrepret it as it is or how it may’ve happened.

Personally I’d say the matters in the other states were handled by simple minded adventurers, WoLs or mercenaries that took initiative in response to the Scion’s needs or assisting the Scions without even knowing it.

My avatart was never around the affairs of the other states as I was busy enough handling Uldah’s till the Banquet’s incident which lead me to migrate (in headcannon apply for political refuge & ultimately citizenshi) to Gridania; never again shall I dare to trust Uldah’s petty affairs, or its silver tongue city folks where gold only speaks the highlights of their inner dark egotistical natures.

The worst thing to me is that the twins show up in all three starting cutscenes.

Maybe they are twins but sextuplets.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Necrotica

A comment in another topic made me realize something.

The starting city quests are not all completed by the Warrior of Light.

What I mean is, the WoL goes and completes all the quests in the game. Race, sex, class does not matter, all can be done by 1 person. But no 1 person can complete all 3 starting city quests. Which then makes me wonder, who did complete those quests?

If I am Gridania WoL, I did not save the Sultana at the tree. Or whatever Limsa people do. Get drunk and pass out in an alley or whatever.

The events with the Sultana still should have happened however. Is the assumption that the Scions took care of those situations on their own in their respective areas?

---

Remember that you had a TINY bit of help on the one you did, a member of the Scions of the 7th dawn showed up. Sure, the one you did, they showed up late, but they'd have gotten there in time.

If you poke around you find the other two sets of missions were completed by the Scion assigned to that city, working alone. The same one that would have arrived late had you started in that city.


....


Still, to this day, I'm slightly grumpy that I can't play those other missions, not even in new game+. I want so badly to have the achivements for them and the items from those achivements in my collection.

... I also regret my choice that gave me no second ring at the start, those two rings are irreplacable, and you can only get one.

Also remember you're not actually the Warrior of Light at that point, you're just a regular adventurer out of thousands in that city, so therefore it makes sense that the sidequests in the other cities were taken care of by other adventurers.

Palace of the Dead confirms that all three of them happen for sure, there's a dead NPC from all of them. Specifically, Gridania's is Janremi who stole a prized chocobo egg, Ul'Dah's is Garibold who tried to ransom Nanamo's crown for the Trader's Spurn, and Limsa's is Baenryss the Serpent Reaver. Not all of those NPCs died in parts of the story that the Scions were actually present for, so we can't say 'yeah Thancred did all that if you weren't in Ul'Dah'. But Enkidoh's probably hit it right that these were just done by other adventurers.

Remember that in ARR, there is absolutely dump-ass nothing saying that we're special. We've performed no unique feats up until beating Lahabrea, and in fact it's a fairly prominent part of the worldbuilding that we're just one in a crowd at the start. Hell, Edda's party is there to show you that adventuring is just a regular occupation full of people sticking their necks out for the coin despite the dangers (and also to tell you to not be an asshole to your healer, but many did not learn that lesson). Who's to say anyone special or interesting did the other starting questlines? Who's to say whoever did the others even survived for much longer afterwards?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Enkidoh

Also remember you're not actually the Warrior of Light at that point, you're just a regular adventurer out of thousands in that city, so therefore it makes sense that the sidequests in the other cities were taken care of by other adventurers.

---

That's how I see it too. That all three stories happened and the other two were just dealt with by other adventurers and/or the Scions.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ilisidi

The worst thing to me is that the twins show up in all three starting cutscenes.

Maybe they are twins but sextuplets.

---

The twins were touring the realm to get a feel for what was going on. They just happened to fall asleep on every carriage and boat ride.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Frizze

The twins were touring the realm to get a feel for what was going on. They just happened to fall asleep on every carriage and boat ride.

---

It is kinda weird how they made a whole thing about the carriage drivers being 3 brothers to explain the similarity, but then none given for the twins.

Also very possible that the 3 starting city events are not happening at the same time.

i think there were 3 wols and two of them got shanked in pearl alley

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cleretic

We've performed no unique feats up until beating Lahabrea

---

Gaius would like to say: "Hi"

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cleretic

Remember that in ARR, there is absolutely dump-ass nothing saying that we're special. We've performed no unique feats up until beating Lahabrea, and in fact it's a fairly prominent part of the worldbuilding that we're just one in a crowd at the start. Hell, Edda's party is there to show you that adventuring is just a regular occupation full of people sticking their necks out for the coin despite the dangers (and also to tell you to not be an asshole to your healer, but many did not learn that lesson). Who's to say anyone special or interesting did the other starting questlines? Who's to say whoever did the others even survived for much longer afterwards?

---

Not quite nothing. First of all we have the Echo which marks us as special, though not unique. More importantly, we acquire a Crystal of Light quite early on (during the starting city questline), and that makes us somewhat special.

Since I started in Ul'dah I like imagining the Gridania questline was handled by Edda's party and the Limsa one by Dolorous Bear's (RIP).

There's no canon explanation and probably never will be, but someone else in the adventurer's guild handling them is the easiest answer.

The correct answer to your question is "it depends upon which metaverse you end up in". Only the History Monks, with their abilities to look through the Trousers of Time, could give you the full explanation, which you will not hear correctly anyway.

ARR establishes quite early that there are other adventurers out there having other stories. Of course, as Edda's party in Tam-Tara and Dolorous Bear's party in Copperbell demonstrate, that doesn't mean they're happy stories.

My headcanon is that the other cities' stories were taken care of by those other dungeon parties, which is how they all got the leads to get those dungeon quests in the first place.

I guess it's been a while since you played those earlier quests. The early duties had you in them, sure, but you were, at best, a distraction for the small fry, all in all irrelevant in the event (strangely, they scions act as if you were useful, even though you're barely able to hit the enemy at the time while doing pitiful damage when you do hit). Whoever was there doing most of the work could have easily dispatched the small fry, and the boss was beaten almost entirely by them anyway.

Like, it takes a minute or two to beat the gargoyle alone while the Ascian just stand there, then Thancred shows up and takes 10% of its health with a single fast blade. Then it's over quickly with or without you (altough at least you can do a little more at this point). Then again, the Ascian seems to imply they showed up to kill the WoL since they figured out you have a crystal of light and "the source of your strenght is revealed" or whatever it was, so i suppose they wouldn't reveal themselves even if their mooks bit the dust.

At that point, the player is also a fledgling adventurer barely arrived in town, while the Archons are experienced fighters. The main reason they take an interest in you early on is because of the Echo. You don't grow into the god-slaying nigh-unstoppable Warrior of Light for a long time after that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ICountFrom0

... I also regret my choice that gave me no second ring at the start, those two rings are irreplacable, and you can only get one.

---

I don't think there is any choice that makes you miss out on receiving a unique ring at the beginning. There are four dialogue choices and four types of rings.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Iscah

I don't think there is any choice that makes you miss out on receiving a unique ring at the beginning. There are four dialogue choices and four types of rings.

---

The poster to whom you responded may be under the impression that they received no ring because it doesn't automagically appear on your finger at the end of the quest, you have to equip it.

Ring of Fortitude for answering "go gain power"
Ring of Fidelity for answering "to win glory"
Ring of Fortune for answering "to amass a fortune"
Ring of Freedom for answering "..."

There is one ring that can only be received by someone from a starting city. It is awarded after that level 14 quest that brings you to the attention of the City Leaders. You can equip it at level 15.

You won't wear it long. The ring awarded at the end of the Hall of the Novice quests is more powerful with the +30% XP.

There is also the special item gained as part of the last citystate quest at level 14 (before you're sent on the ambassadorial mission to the other two cities) which differs depending on what city it is - Limsa gets a pair of fancy dress shoes, Ul'dah gets a special earring with a unique name, and Gridania gets a wooden face mask, but they're just for glamour and have no real stats. And you can only get one of those items.

It's moot though as their designs are not unique and can be found on other gear, but they are classless and so have no glamour restrictions which is one benefit at least.

Ul'dah is definitely the winner on the level 14 story items. We get so few level 1 earrings that can be glamoured over the EXP-boosting ones.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Iscah

Ul'dah is definitely the winner on the level 14 story items. We get so few level 1 earrings that can be glamoured over the EXP-boosting ones.

---

The voice of the just will forever remain in my characters inventory purely for the rp value.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Enkidoh

Also remember you're not actually the Warrior of Light at that point, you're just a regular adventurer out of thousands in that city, so therefore it makes sense that the sidequests in the other cities were taken care of by other adventurers.

---

Good point. They DO bring up the Free Companies late in ARR, don't they? So them existing is canon. Of course, they only bring them up to diss them and that was insulting. Like, I don't know if you've heard Raubahn but my FC is badass. Also, Bot/Derplander is seen getting the intro speech from Momodi during the Copperbell quest yes?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DPZ2

The poster to whom you responded may be under the impression that they received no ring because it doesn't automagically appear on your finger at the end of the quest, you have to equip it.

Ring of Fortitude for answering "go gain power"
Ring of Fidelity for answering "to win glory"
Ring of Fortune for answering "to amass a fortune"
Ring of Freedom for answering "..."

There is one ring that can only be received by someone from a starting city. It is awarded after that level 14 quest that brings you to the attention of the City Leaders. You can equip it at level 15.

You won't wear it long. The ring awarded at the end of the Hall of the Novice quests is more powerful with the +30% XP.

---

Did not know this. Learn something new every day. I suspect the uselessness of said ring made me not notice it could be four different rings. That and I choose the mute option in dialogue A LOT.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TheMightyMollusk

At that point, the player is also a fledgling adventurer barely arrived in town, while the Archons are experienced fighters. The main reason they take an interest in you early on is because of the Echo. You don't grow into the god-slaying nigh-unstoppable Warrior of Light for a long time after that.

---

Really? The way I remember it, I became a god-slayer in like.... 10 levels after meeting Thancred.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by EaraGrace

The voice of the just will forever remain in my characters inventory purely for the rp value.

---

You talking Pally RP, I assume? With a name like Voice of the Just....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SentioftheHoukai

Really? The way I remember it, I became a god-slayer in like.... 10 levels after meeting Thancred.

---

And it's treated as a huge, major event that you're able to defeat Ifrit, by far the weakest of the ARR primals. Think of the long preparations it takes us later to defeat Titan and Garuda, because we're not the Warrior of Light yet. Even in post-ARR, aside from the Hard Modes of the above three (which were originally optional), it's still treated as a major endeavor when we have to fight Moggle Mogg, Leviathan, Ramuh, and Shiva. It's really not until Thordan that people just kinda start realizing that, yeah, the WoL is just a professional godslayer.

Yeah, in ARR you were, basically, "Adventurer X" first and "Scion #346" second. Somewhere in there you get tagged with "Eikon slayer" by the Garleans. I prefer "Best Boy".

"Eikon-slayer" comes up after Nero and Rhitatyn witness our fight with Titan and Gaius sees us defeat Garuda (although he kill-steals her with the Ultima Weapon right afterwards). Even then, they're plainly more interested in the Echo. Livia and Nero even say so outright before their fights in the MSQ dungeons.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DPZ2

The poster to whom you responded may be under the impression that they received no ring because it doesn't automagically appear on your finger at the end of the quest, you have to equip it.

Ring of Fortitude for answering "go gain power"
Ring of Fidelity for answering "to win glory"
Ring of Fortune for answering "to amass a fortune"
Ring of Freedom for answering "..."

There is one ring that can only be received by someone from a starting city. It is awarded after that level 14 quest that brings you to the attention of the City Leaders. You can equip it at level 15.

You won't wear it long. The ring awarded at the end of the Hall of the Novice quests is more powerful with the +30% XP.

---

Don't mean I don't want it in my collection of rare things in my dresser

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ICountFrom0

Don't mean I don't want it in my collection of rare things in my dresser

---

All 4 of them? Man, even I draw the line at obtaining impossible items while "collecting", although I do have more than 4 alts in this game, so at least one of each is in an alt's collection of Rings.

I have not found any gear to match as "bells on my toes" yet.

The heart wants what it wants.
What can I say?