New Tales from the Storm (August 18)

[Mieck]

The First Step


The next part is up

[Aquaslash]

The First Step


The next part is up

This is exactly what I wanted from the two of them, save to be doing it along with them. Though I feel a plot point that big could at least be told in game, and so I hope they make mention of it

[Mieck]

I think this is my favourite story so far, especially since it ties in with the squad from the SMN story. I do hope this is the start of the story thread for the pair running through into 5.0

[SynthielLyrin]

I see the summoner squad! And the Scions, but most importantly we see what became of Fordola.

And... well, it went pretty much as generally expected, I suppose. Too useful to kill, and against a foe that they tend to be permanently shorthanded for too, so much as I may not be for her redemption at least it is what was close to certainty. Interesting to see that her Echo is still, far as we can guess, not controlled ("Little girls need their father", and that seemed to be Echo'd since Arenvald guessed at what it was but not the affected thm, and damn that's oddly sweet) so I am guessing that the initial animosity in the carriage was a test of restraint.

(Thaumaturges can make exploding collars. Or maybe not exploding but still lethal and that is. Surprisingly subtle. And creepy.)

It does say 'serve a sentence' though, so I'm supposing that this does mean eventually Fordola could be free unless Eorzea does life sentences. Echo'd and skilled at arms as she is, it would still be a long time. Besides, the 'new' rounds of old primals seem to happen with far fewer crystals, so they should have it reasonably handled. 3 tanks and as many casters as possible is not too bad a party.

And because I am a sucker for this kinda thing and had to check, Arenvald remembers the names of his dead Scion pals, so to hell I go.

[LineageRazor]

I have mixed feelings about this one, because as interested as I am in Fordola's storyline, I'd like to experience it in-game, not in a side story. Further, this story makes me fear that Fordola's story may be OVER, as far as the game is concerned. My worry is that we'll be presented with an off-hand note about Fordola's new "career", and never see her again. To be fair, I don't think that's terribly likely, but it's certainly the case that if this story is meant to be canon, there will need to be some kind of reference to it in-game.

I do agree that "boxed crook" is a fate that suits Fordola well. There's not many who can safely fight Primals, and doing so does not conflict with either Fordola's (still existing?) loyalty to the Garleans or her tentative willingness to make up for the wrongs she committed while working for them.

It was fun to see the all-summoner team from the SMN job quests, as well!

[jameseoakes]

I have mixed feelings about this one, because as interested as I am in Fordola's storyline, I'd like to experience it in-game, not in a side story. Further, this story makes me fear that Fordola's story may be OVER, as far as the game is concerned. My worry is that we'll be presented with an off-hand note about Fordola's new "career", and never see her again. To be fair, I don't think that's terribly likely, but it's certainly the case that if this story is meant to be canon, there will need to be some kind of reference to it in-game.

I do agree that "boxed crook" is a fate that suits Fordola well. There's not many who can safely fight Primals, and doing so does not conflict with either Fordola's (still existing?) loyalty to the Garleans or her tentative willingness to make up for the wrongs she committed while working for them.

It was fun to see the all-summoner team from the SMN job quests, as well!

I'm not quite sure what they're suppose to with her at this point, she's not really a good/reliable ally and she's not likeable enough to work as a story companion so I'm not quite sure where they work her into the story.

[Wolfman88]

I don’t think this will be the last we hear of Fordola. She is one of our largest connections with Garlemald (as of now). If we are heading over there in 5.0, I’m hoping we will see her again.

[TinyRedLeaf]

As a career summoner, and a proud bearer of the title The First Caller, I couldn't help but go "squeeeee" at the guest appearance of the summoner squad. This little tale ties in surprisingly well with my ongoing headcanon, and I hope it means greater things are in store for the three new summoners of the Immortal Flames. If nothing else, this suggests that the squad was formed, whether or not the WoL directly involved (in the case of players who did not level up their summoners to 70).

As for Fordola, this turns out to be quite an apt compromise — she may either die in service, and or live to redeem herself eventually. Like LineageRazor, I would have preferred that her conscription happened in-game, just like the tea party the WoL had with the girls. But, on the other hand, I think the intention is to push the plot ahead, alongside the WoL's sojourn in the Far East, where he/she dealt with political intrigue in Doma, and a certain other primal. With the story focus now returning to Eorzea and Ala Mhigo, there would presumably be a lot of catching up for the WoL to do. Rather than have a side story on Fordola detract from the main plot, I guess it's better that her development is dealt with in this "Tale" instead.

[LineageRazor]

I had a sudden, odd thought. In our encounter with Ifrit in the level 20 story mission, after failing to Temper us, Ifrit detects the "taint" of the goddess upon us. What would he smell on Fordola, I wonder? The Resonance, after all, was not granted by Haedalyn. I suppose that, since it was copied from a Haedalyn-blessed individual it may carry the same scent...

[Anonymoose]

I don’t think this will be the last we hear of Fordola. She is one of our largest connections with Garlemald (as of now). If we are heading over there in 5.0, I’m hoping we will see her again.

This, imo. The options for Fordola were pretty slim right out of the gate.

[1] Reconcile with the Ala Mhigan Republic somehow as a personification of the unity of the country; that even those who bought into Imperial annextion and integration out of a belief it was the best option Ala Mhigo had can be part of moving forward. It foils the alternative - that Ala Mhigo must decide what sort of nation it will be going forward, and maybe waves of executions doled out by vengeance mobs upon people who thought they were fighting for Ala Mhigo's lesser evil isn't the best start.

[2] Redemption = Death

[3] Tragic villain, self-or-otherwise-imposed exile, rejoins Gaius. (Originally a joke, now just not as likely (yet)).

However, the fact that she bought into a different side of Garlemald and fought for a strong and (comparatively) self-determinate Ala Mhigan Territory of the Garlean Empire - only to unexpectedly end up another toy of Zenos - makes her a valuable narrative vehicle. She's the culmination of a lot of decisions whereby a case could be made that it was the lesser evil, the hard call, the way to live, the last hope for strength and (her idea of) freedom - all adding up to being branded a blood traitor and later complicit in atrocity.

Especially with Krile's Echo working as involuntary overwhelming empathy, it's not hard for her to come back to fight for a different, better kind of freedom ... it's just that there's a good chunk of Ala Mhigans (and players for that matter) who feel that she's as damned as Yotusyu, that any difference between them is academic at best.

Conscription allows her to fight for Ala Mhigo and maintain the narrative that it's punishment, but in time perhaps people will see it teetering the other way - towards its own sort of injustice - and see her in a different light.

Arenvald continues to be one of the few characters having faith and clawing their way back from nothing, ever making the best of tortured circumstances and holding out to do the right thing. I fear for his narrative safety something fierce, lol.