Stormblood page updated with new lore.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Samurai sounds more like Ronin in practice.

While I can see why you would think that, I believe it's more the case of restless knights looking for things to do to stay relevant in a time of peace. The impression I got is that Hingashi has only been recently united after long years of war. And peace has, not surprisingly, rendered soldiers redundant, hence the worries of "neglected blades" growing "dull with rust", and men-at-arms forgetting their "purpose". They aren't masterless (unless one chooses to role-play as the former samurai of a defeated lord), as much as they are left suddenly without a direction in life.

There are historical analogies aplenty for such circumstances, especially in the immediate aftermath of the Warring States period (Sengokujidai) of Japan. But even without resorting to real history, think about the immediate problems that the Eorzean Alliance faced when an anticipated Garlean invasion did not materialise. All the sell-/spell-swords that answered the Grand Companies' call to arms were suddenly left without a job to do. Thankfully, the Adventurers' Guild was soon founded to give the restless youth meaningful employment, otherwise the city-states would have had quite a fair bit of unrest to deal with.

[Bloody]

While I can see why you would think that, I believe it's more the case of restless knights looking for things to do to stay relevant in a time of peace. The impression I got is that Hingashi has only been recently united after long years of war.

I disagree with the assumption that Hingashi is free. The description of Kugane literally states "Kugane stands as the only port in Hingashi whose docks remain open to foreign vessels in the era of occupation." and the trailer shows garleans chasing samurai WoL. Definitely not indicators of a free city. It reminds me more of a "occupied gem" so to speak, one of those locations given more freedom due to either their good behavior or the strategic value of that freedom (or both). Since Kugane seems to be an important trade port, I wouldn't be surprised if the Garleans wanted to take advantage of that.

[Hinoto-no-Ryuji]

I disagree with the assumption that Hingashi is free. The description of Kugane literally states "Kugane stands as the only port in Hingashi whose docks remain open to foreign vessels in the era of occupation." and the trailer shows garleans chasing samurai WoL. Definitely not indicators of a free city. It reminds me more of a "occupied gem" so to speak, one of those locations given more freedom due to either their good behavior or the strategic value of that freedom (or both). Since Kugane seems to be an important trade port, I wouldn't be surprised if the Garleans wanted to take advantage of that.

On the other hand, Yugiri and her band of fleeing Domans were denied port at Hingashi specifically to avoid poking the Garlean hornet nest, so there's pretty solid implication that Hingashi does indeed exist outside Imperial control, ala Thavnair. Garlemald would obviously have a presence in Kugane, it being a major port for trade and the like, but from what we know so far, they don't actually control it.

As for the soldiers - I wonder if they are Garlean. Their armor has some similar aesthetics to it, but their weapons - flintlock pistols, specifically - seem a pretty far cry from the tech wielded by the other Garlean soldiers we've faced. Could just be my imagination, but they could also be a local militia or something, unrelated to Garlemald's military.

[Theodric]

-snip-

No matter the case, it's likely that a settlement like Kugane is going to value neutrality very highly for the sake of trade and profit. It will also likely be very diverse in terms of who lives there - and the description already states outright that it isn't unusual for both Eorzean and Garlean ships to be docked side by side in its port. Add in intrigue and there is likely to be all sorts of different factions operating within, each with their own goals and desires. I think it could go either way when it comes to the combatants, the simple answer would be that they're Garlean or at least allied with Garlemald. The more complicated answer would be that they're not.

I'm hoping that Kugane will remain neutral and refuse to side with either Eorzea or Garlemald whilst allowing both to operate within. We already know from the lore book that Garlemald came to be out of necessity and that whilst some of their methods are certainly extreme things are far from complicated than them simply being evil and completely irredeemable. This was only highlighted further by Regula and his sacrifice. We know Zenos is going to do something bad but that doesn't mean everybody in Garlemald is going to follow or support him. It also wouldn't make much sense for everybody to side against Garlemald because, again, they're not without their redeeming qualities and the Warrior of Light and his allies do not have any business stirring up political unrest in every single settlement they choose to visit.

The 'liberation' plot points will likely be limited to Ala Mhigo and Doma, I believe. Mostly because of the hints a while back that implied that not everybody will want to be 'liberated'. We'll likely see the Warrior of Light deal with Zenos and the more rotten, power hungry Garleans but at the same time I would hope that we also see him deal with the same elements within the Eorzean Alliance.