Tales from the Storm Discussion

[FJerome]

Setting aside discussion of Lyse for a moment, M'naago's inner monologue where she offhandedly dismisses the notion that liberated Ala Mhigo will be ruled by a king I felt was a very interesting and easily overlooked tidbit from this story. Sod that. We've had enough of kings. I doubt it's an uncommon sentiment, as the Mad King's reign was truly horrendous, by all accounts. Nevertheless, I guess at the back of my mind I fully expected that once Ala Mhigo was freed, they'd uncover some lost prince or princess and prop them up as ruler, and everything would be hunky dory. When I read this, however, it dawned on my how unlikely that was - and it also dawned on me that there's been nothing in the story so far to discuss just what they ARE planning to do in terms of a new government.

There's some NPCs in Rhalgr's Reach making side-commentary about if they want a monarchy or republic but, yes, it doesn't seem like something anyone's really discussed?

I'm hoping this is going to be a major theme in the 4.1 to 4.X story-line because Ala Mhigo was in the middle of a civil war when the Empire swooped in. The lack of any real discussion on what form of government they'd have post-liberation makes it feel like it's still an extremely fraught and sensitive question and that the monarchist and republican sides are both still nursing a lot of old resentments. Pushing the Garleans back out may have united them for a time but now that the Empire's gone all the old conflicts are still there, waiting to kick off again.

It'd also be an interesting narrative contrast with Doma, where Hien is widely adored by his people and has no rivals to the throne, so he's already in power and rebuilding the Enclave by the end of 4.0.

[Enkidoh]

There's some NPCs in Rhalgr's Reach making side-commentary about if they want a monarchy or republic but, yes, it doesn't seem like something anyone's really discussed?

I'm hoping this is going to be a major theme in the 4.1 to 4.X story-line because Ala Mhigo was in the middle of a civil war when the Empire swooped in.

Not to let Ala Mhigo entirely off the hook (given their well known history of belligerence), but the Ala Mhigan civil war and the atrocities committed by the King of Ruin was actually due to Garlean plotting - Gaius was the one responsible who realized attacking front on Eorzea's 'strongest and most technologically advanced' citystate was not going to end well for him, so he waited and schemed, stirring up trouble inside the city and feeding Theoduric's paranoia.

Gaius waited nearly ten years for the results of his plot to come to fruition, and they succeeded beyond his wildest dreams - fed up with Theoduric's tyranny the Ala Mhigan people overthrew him in a brief but violent coup, and Gaius pretty much then just marched in and took over (one account states that the Ala Mhigans actually welcomed the Garleans, although that is contradicted by other accounts that they quickly and violently occupied the nation and annexed it almost overnight).

This is also the origins and reasons why the Corpse Brigade have such a bad name, they are the remnants of Theoduric's personal guard, so they're held with outright contempt by even their own countrymen and women and are thus shunned by most of the refugees in Little Ala Mhigo, leading them to become bandits and outlaws.

As others have mentioned there were those in the Resistance who had begun to debate exactly how Ala Mhigo's new government should be formed after the city was liberated, but a democratic republic is probably the most likely outcome (as mentioned Wildergart is the only known surviving member of the Ala Mhigan royal family and he is not interested in claiming the throne, instead focusing on rebuilding the Fists of Rhalgr).

Given that Ishgard made the transition from an autocratic theocracy to a democratic parliamentary republic fairly easily, and that even Ul'dah is toying with the idea (or rather, Nanamo is), republicanism is probably where Ala Mhigo's future ultimately lies (a further hint towards that is that certain Echo scene where none less than the American Revolution is channeled ).

[FJerome]

Not to let Ala Mhigo entirely off the hook (given their well known history of belligerence), but the Ala Mhigan civil war and the atrocities committed by the King of Ruin was actually due to Garlean plotting - Gaius was the one responsible who realized attacking front on Eorzea's 'strongest and most technologically advanced' citystate was not going to end well for him, so he waited and schemed, stirring up trouble inside the city and feeding Theoduric's paranoia.

Naming no current real-world examples because that way lies trouble and flame-wars but it's not unusual for a foreign power to exploit internal divisions in a country for its own gain. Even if Gaius was fueling the situation, everyone's lingering resentment is still very real?

The Venn Diagram of "People who Just Put Up With Theoduric because He Was King and That's What You Do" vs "The Rebellion" pre-occupation and "People who Collaborated With the Empire" vs "The Resistance" post-occupation is probably pretty interesting.

[YianKutku]

This is also the origins and reasons why the Corpse Brigade have such a bad name, they are the remnants of Theoduric's personal guard, so they're held with outright contempt by even their own countrymen and women and are thus shunned by most of the refugees in Little Ala Mhigo, leading them to become bandits and outlaws.

There's even a bit of tension regarding the role of the Corpse Brigade now that the liberation of Ala Mhigo is in full swing. If you go back to Little Ala Mhigo before completing the SB story, Hremfing (the guy standing next to Gundobald) has a couple of lines:

It's all well and good that the Resistance is gaining new recruits, but we could do without the help of the Corpses.

I've not forgotten the crimes they committed in the name of the King of Ruin. Nor have any of the older generation. But these young ones, they're all too happy to let bygones be bygones...

Apart from that, there's also the crimes and atrocities the Corpse Brigade committed while as bandits in Thanalan, often against their fellow Ala Mhigans in Little Ala Mhigo. Thanks to the time bubble, this has happened less than a year ago, which makes me wonder about the "younger generation" line.